Pushing the envelope of Sammy

Some of my fondest Sammy moments happened out off costume. I was always trying to think of the next stunt to add to Sammy's repertoire. Needless to say things didn't always work out for me.

There was the broken hand that came from me trying to learn a back flip. I was able to still wear the Sammy costume with a cast on my broken hand. I did eventually learn it though, and Sammy did it on several occasions with the help of some cheerleaders. Most of the time I ended on my butt though.

Twelve weeks later I broke my ankle when two of the guy cheerleaders were throwing me from the free throw line at the basketball rim. How else is Sammy gonna dunk! I was wearing the Sammy head and hands during practice. The hands slipped on the rim and my landing was less than graceful. I had to get my first college roomate to fill in as Sammy for four weeks of the basketball season until I was able get a boot on my cast. The day after I could walk again I was back in the Sammy costume. Lucky for me that was the year that the Bearkats made it to the NCAA tournament.

Lets not forget the time I bruised my heel after I landed wrong when our largest guy cheerleader threw me up in the air. I was supposed to do a backflip, I did, but I over rotated and landed right on one of my heels. I figured something was wrong when my heel was all purple and black. That kept me out of Sammy for another four weeks.

I almost lost my job as Sammy the time that I thought it would be a great idea for Sammy to skydive into the stadium for a televised game against #1 Montana. I managed to practice the jump in the Sammy costume down in Houston. Unfortunately, some of the administration didn't like the fact that I made the jump without their consent, more like against their will. Needless to say I was sat down and talked to and Sammy never made the jump into the stadium. SHSU had no problem using the video of Sammy skydiving in their videos. No worries though.

All of it was worth it.