Online fan voting now open until Saturday, Oct. 26
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Jaguars announced today that mascot and local legend Jaxson de Ville has been named a finalist for the National Mascot Hall of Fame. Online fan voting is now open and continues through Saturday, Oct. 26 at www.mascothalloffame.com/thevote. Fans can vote once per day per email address, so don’t forget to vote on all those email addresses that you forgot you had!
Jaxson de Ville is in his 24th season as the Jaguars mascot after originally being discovered as a stray during construction of TIAA Bank Field in the mid-90s. He made his mascot debut on Aug. 18, 1996 and now weighs in at a very slim and sleek 403 pounds and 8.5 paws tall. He has never seen action in an NFL-sanctioned game, despite multiple attempts to enter the field of play, but has dominated several talented 10-year-olds in halftime Pop Warner contests.
Jaxson de Ville ranks No. 1 in NFL history in career bungee jumps and zip lines, records that will undoubtedly go untouched forever (until another team is a copycat). He has been invited to multiple Pro Bowls and has taken his fame international with annual appearances at Wembley Stadium in London as part of the NFL International Series. His career achievements include thousands of charity appearances, highlighted by global military tours to Greenland, Egypt, Kuwait and Bahrain. Since the Jaguars introduced spas to TIAA Bank Field in 2014, Jaxson has posted a league-leading 17 victory celebratory belly flops, including a career-high six belly flops in 2017, the most in a single season by any mascot since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.
“No mascot is more worthy of Hall of Fame selection than Jaxson de Ville,” said Jaguars Director of Branded Entertainment Christy Stechman Zynda. “His commitment to the team and the northeast Florida community is whiskers above the rest. The Jaguars are celebrating their 25th season in 2019, and it would be fitting to see Jaxson earn a teal jacket this year.”
Earlier this year, the Mascot Hall of Fame Executive Committee selected 19 mascots for consideration for induction. During the first round, ballots cast by the public, annual members of the Mascot Hall of Fame, and a 24-member Executive Committee, selected the top 10 mascots to move on to the final ballot. Mascots who appear on 65 percent or higher of the aggregate total of final ballots cast will be elected to the Class of 2020. Elected mascots will be introduced to the public on Dec. 11, 2019 at the Mascot Hall of Fame’s Fur Tie Fundraiser taking place in Whiting, Ind. Once elected, the new 2020 HOF Class will be celebrated and officially inducted the weekend of June 12 – 14, 2020 during Induction Weekend taking place at the MHOF in Whiting.
The finalists for the 2020 class of the National Mascot Hall of Fame include:
Bernie Brewer (Milwaukee Brewers, MLB)
Blue (Indianapolis Colts, NFL)
Boomer (Indiana Pacers, NBA)
Globie (Harlem Globetrotters)
Jaxson de Ville (Jacksonville Jaguars, NFL)
Oriole Bird (Baltimore Orioles, MLB)
S.J. Sharkie (San Jose Sharks, NHL)
Sebastian the Ibis (University of Miami)
T.C. Bear (Minnesota Twins, MLB)
Youppi! (Montreal Canadiens, NHL)
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