On Saturday the Oregon Ducks will take the field against the Washington Huskies in yet another legendary uniform.
This week we honor the history of our school and the original University of Oregon Webfoots. And while their jerseys are sure to be the topic of choice at the watercooler leading up to the game, the story behind them is just as interesting.
Many don't know the long and winding road that eventually led to the University becoming the Webfoots in 1932 more than 50 years after the founding of the university. It's hard to think of our team as anything other than the Ducks, but when the Oregon football team took the field for the very first time in 1894 against Albany College they were simply referred to by the bright yellow accents on the team's jerseys: Lemon Yellow. Thankfully, that name didn't catch on among students and fans. When the Eugene Guard referred to the men of the football team as "Webfoot boys", the name stuck.
Where did that name come from? Massachusetts, actually. In the 1700s it referred to the Massachusetts fisherman who helped defeat the British during the Revolutionary War and then used to describe locals who lived in the wet New England climate. As people from the East moved to Oregon the term followed and began being used by Oregonians. Not hard to believe given the wet Willamette Valley climate.
Despite university mascots gaining popularity around the country, University of Oregon president, Prince Lucien Campbell, was adamantly opposed to the idea believing that it would "negatively affect school branding." (blogs.uoregon) Despite the reluctance of university administrators to sanction and official mascot, the name Webfoot became popular among students and Eugenians and became the name of the first school yearbook in 1902. However, it didn't stay in fashion for long and the 1907 yearbook was grossly titled, "The Beaver."
It was a year after Campbell's death in 1926 that the student publication, Daily Emerald, and Eugene Guard announced a contest to finally settle on a mascot for the university. Submissions included Pioneers, Vikings, Dragons, Gorillas, Trailers, Trappers, and Blazers. Webfeet was ultimately chosen for the school's mascot though many thought the name wasn't intimidating enough to represent the school's athletic teams.
After the contest, it would be another six years, a vote by students and alumni, and a second slight spelling change to eventually come to a decision to name the official mascot of the University of Oregon the Webfoots.
Though this decision was long thought out, to many fans the concept of a "Webfooter" was a little too ambiguous to rally behind at games. They couldn't put the concept into a physical representation. In the 1920s long before the adoption of any mascot, a university fraternity began the tradition of bringing a live duck, named Puddles, to sporting events. Puddles quickly became a symbol for the school which aided the popularity of the unofficial shorthand, Ducks.
In response to Puddles' popularity Leo Harris, the university's athletic director, sought out to name an official physical mascot. It was in 1947 that the handshake agreement between Harris and Mr. Walt Disney himself solidified the usage of Donald Duck for Oregon's mascot.
To many, Donald wasn't the menacing mascot that they wanted to represent their beloved school and again, the Emerald was on the case with another contest to redesign the school's mascot. A staff cartoonist came up with a black Daffy Duck lookalike to replace the Disney version, however it's reception was overwhelmingly negative and Donald maintained his position. In 1999, the logo had evolved from Donald bursting through an "O' to the sleeker logo we have now which symbolizes Oregon's famous Hayward Field and Autzen Stadium, though the mascot remained the same. The infamous "Roboduck" made his debut in 2003 but only lasted a season.
During the 2007 football season, Donald would get himself into a fight with the University of Huston's cougar and be suspended from attending the next game. The altercation would bring the partnership with Disney and the U of O into question once again. Finally, in 2010 the trademark on our beloved Duck would be removed. Free from the guidelines of Disney, the Duck would be able to attend more than just sporting events and his mischief would be unleashed.
Today the Duck is unbeaten by any other university mascot. Are we biased? Sure. But, he wouldn't have become the icon that he is today without his predecessors. So this week let us honor the original Webfoot team.