I N D I A N A P O L I S C O LT S M A S C O T TREY MOCK SHARES HISTORY & LIFE OF BLUE Writer / Christy Heitger-Ewing Photography Provided by Amy Payne & the Indianapolis Colts
hen Trey Mock attended freshman orientation at Auburn University, his eyes immediately gravitated to Aubie the Tiger, the university’s mascot who was both athletic and entertaining. “He was hilarious, and I thought that looked like fun so I set out to learn how mascoting works,” says Mock, who, his sophomore year, auditioned and landed one of four student slots who shared the costume. “I learned a lot about how to become a mascot and performer while at Auburn,” says Mock, who, in 2003, won the Collegiate Nationals Mascot championship. Since Auburn’s rule only allows a student to act as mascot for a two-year term, when he finished his second year, he didn’t want to quit. “I felt like I had more in the tank,” he says. A number of former Aubies had gone on to become professional mascots so he followed in their footsteps and became the Atlanta Falcon’s mascot in 2004 and the Buffalo Bill’s mascot in 2005. Neither felt like the right fit for him, however, so he moved back home to Marietta, Georgia, and was considering going back to school when the phone rang in March 2006. The Indianapolis Colts had plans to launch their own mascot and encouraged him to apply SEPTEMBER 2020
