Monday, October 12, 2026

Question: How did UT pick Smokey as its first live mascot in 1953?

Answer: Hounds lined up at halftime of a game against Mississippi State, and when the last one, Rev. Bill Brooks’ “Blue Smokey,” was introduced, he barked, the crowd cheered, and he kept barking until the stadium was in an uproar. He won the contest, and the Brooks family line has supplied UT’s Smokey ever since.