EAST LANSING, Mich — I know it's Rivarly Week with the MSU vs. UM football game on Saturday, but no matter what school you root for, you know that Sparty, is one of the most recognizable faces in the entire world. And right now, Michigan State University is looking for the next group of students to proudly fill that green and white suit, and it's a very elite and secretive group.
“More people have been to space than have been Sparty,” former Sparty John Morrison told me.
The first Sparty was born of papier-mache, grit, and school spirit back in 1955 when the Theta Xi fraternity debuted the gruff head at a Jenison Field House pep rally before a football game against Notre Dame.
Since then, Sparty has grown and evolved into the brawny mascot you know and love today, and in 1989, the MSU Alumni Office began overseeing the Sparty Mascot Program. But outside of that, not much is known about how the program operates or how many people are involved.
Believe me I asked... a lot.
Being an esteemed Alumnus though, I was able to track down two former Sparties - Noah VerMeulen and John Morrison - to try and get more information about what it takes to wear the green and white costume. Surprisingly, both were as tight-lipped as spies caught behind enemy lines. But they did tell me that being Sparty was an experience unlike anything else.
"Sparty really embodies what Michigan State is, and everything that is good about Michigan State,” Noah told me. “It means so much to people when people see Sparty.”
“It's like how you, you look up to like a, a famous athlete or something that you admire, and, you know, you might think like, wow, that's so cool that they get to do that for people, and in a way I got to do that for people. I got to be the hero,” John told me.
Made possible by keeping the secrets of Sparty under lock and key, and causing John, Noah, and all the students like them to lead a wild double life.
“You really don't fully see and understand, but yeah, it's trying to juggle everything without having the easy excuse of oh I'm Sparty," Noah told me. "Trying to come up with something consistent. A consistent web that you can spin, uh, you know, so that people aren't trying to...
You don't wanna get caught, so yeah, that was definitely, that was definitely the hardest part, and balancing friends, relationships, classes like student org stuff like that, it's, it's not easy, but it's worth it, it's very worth it.”
“Living with my roommates for 3.5 years, I have a close group of guys that I was friends with. They did not know until the day that I walked across the stage, ” John told me.
That stage being graduation, where John, Noah and all the others who have been lucky enough to be Sparty get to wear their Spartan boots and share their double life.
“It was, it was much bigger than I ever expected," John said. "And honestly, it goes beyond even performing, um. I really grew as a person.”
SEE IF I HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BE SPARTY
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