Wolfie the Seawolf is the

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

of the

Stony Brook Seawolves The Stony Brook Seawolves are the athletic teams of Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York, United States. The school competes at the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and joined the all-sports Colonial At ...

, the athletic teams representing

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system's ...

, one of two public flagship universities in

New York state New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

. Wolfie is depicted as an anthropomorphic sea creature and was introduced in 1995 as the Stony Brook athletic program began its transition to the NCAA's Division I level, the highest in United States collegiate athletics.

History

Origin

In 1995, Wolfie was selected as the choice for Stony Brook University's new mascot by a 32-person committee made up of students, alumni, faculty and administrators. Over 200 possible choices were in the running as Stony Brook University sought a new nickname and mascot for its transition to Division I. Since 1966, Stony Brook had competed as the Stony Brook Patriots at the Division III level.

Appearances in media

In 2005, Wolfie beat up J.J. Jumper, the NCAA's official basketball mascot, during an America East tournament game. Wolfie met

Al Roker Albert Lincoln Roker Jr. (born August 20, 1954) is an American weather presenter, journalist, television personality, and author. He is the current weather anchor on NBC's ''Today'', and occasionally co-hosts '' 3rd Hour Today''. He has an ina ...

, a weatherman on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

's ''Today'' show, during a live segment in 2008. Along with the Stony Brook University marching band, dance team and cheerleading team, Wolfie was featured in a 2010 episode of '' Extreme Makeover: Home Edition'' which highlighted in a home in

East Setauket, New York East Setauket is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) on Long Island, in the town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York, United States. It was first listed as a CDP prior to the 2020 census. Before that it was part of the Setauket-East S ...

. Wolfie was one of 17 college mascots to appear in a 2011 commercial for

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

's ''College GameDay''. Stony Brook was the only

Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athleti ...

school represented by its mascot in the commercial. In 2012, a video of Wolfie dancing to "

U Can't Touch This "U Can't Touch This" is a song co-written, produced, and performed by American rapper MC Hammer. It was released as the third single from his third album, ''Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em'' (1990), and has been considered his signature song. Along ...

" by

MC Hammer Stanley Kirk Burrell (born March 30, 1962), better known by his stage name MC Hammer (or simply Hammer), is an American rapper, dancer, record producer and entrepreneur. He is known for hit songs such as "U Can't Touch This", "2 Legit 2 Quit" ...

was named "Web Video of the Day" by ESPN. Wolfie marched alongside the Stony Brook baseball team in the 2012 New York City Columbus Day Parade to commemorate the Seawolves' Cinderella run to the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...

. Since 2014, Wolfie regularly marches with the Stony Brook dance team and marching band in the annual Columbus Day Parade. On March 15, 2014, Wolfie was involved in a physical fight with Damien the Great Dane, the mascot for the

Albany Great Danes The Albany Great Danes are the NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic programs of the University at Albany, SUNY, located in Albany, New York, United States. A member of the America East Conference, the University at Albany, SUNY sponsors team ...

, in the first half of the America East Championship game. The well-publicized altercation came as Stony Brook faced its longtime New York rival Albany with a bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line. In 2020,

Ryan Field Ryan Field may refer to: * Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport, also known as Ryan Field, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States * Ryan Field (airport), also known as Ryan Airfield, in Tucson, Arizona, United States * Ryan Field (sportscaster) (born ...

, an Emmy-winning broadcaster for

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's ''Eyewitness News'', portrayed Wolfie in a segment.

Lore

Wolfie was born on February 15, 1995. His height is 6 feet tall and he is a

double major A double degree program, sometimes called a dual degree, combined degree, conjoint degree, joint degree or double graduation program, involves a student's working for two university degrees in parallel—either at the same institution or at diffe ...

in marine biology and cheerleading. The Seawolf is described as a mythical creature from the

Tlingit The Tlingit ( or ; also spelled Tlinkit) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively , pronounced ),

tribe which brought good luck to those able to see it.

References

External links

* {{Stony Brook Seawolves women's basketball navbox College mascots in the United States Stony Brook Seawolves