Autumn Spectacle: The Masked Rider

The Masked Rider
by AutumnSpectacle.com staff E-mail

As the Masked Rider makes its way across the field, marking the beginning of another Texas Tech home football Saturday, its graceful and powerful strides belie a past marred with both tragedy and triumph.

courtesy Texas Tech SID

The Texas Tech Masked Rider has traditionally been a jet-black horse with a black-clad rider donning a mask, bolero hat and scarlet cape. Riding onto the field, the rider leans forward at an opportune moment during the full-speed gallop and releases the reins so he or she can show the famous “guns up” signal with both hands. This usually brings the Tech faithful to their feet with applause, and leaves a smile on the face of even visitors and supporters of opposing schools.

It hasn’t always been a cheer-filled ride for the mascot, however. Two horses have died while serving as the current Masked Rider mount. The most infamous was the incident involving Double T in 1994 when he became spooked during the pre-game ceremonies and struck a stadium wall. In 2001, Black Phantom Raider, during the fourth year of his service for the university, was killed when a car crossed lanes and struck the trailer he was being hauled in.

Those incidents have resulted in a bit more care taken with the horse, as it no longer gallops for every Tech score, instead holding its sprints for pre-game duties only. Still this beats the alternative: After the Double T incident, a university advisory committee recommended abolishing the sideline jaunts altogether. Fortunately for traditionalists, the university chancellor instead chose to abolish the committee.

Obviously, that particular committee had never indulged itself in Tech football lore. The Masked Rider made its first appearance on Jan. 1, 1954 during the Gator Bowl in Tampa, Fla., when Masked Rider Joe Kirk Fulton, atop Blackie, led the Red Raiders onto the field to face Auburn. In the Atlanta Constitution the following day, the sports page declared that “No team in any bowl game ever made a more sensational entrance.”

The sensational entrance also made for a sensational Tech game as the Raiders routed Auburn 35-13, making for a grand start for a grand tradition.

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“Saturday afternoons in autumn. For more than a century they have stood as the showcase for what has become a true American ritual, a time reserved for one of the most richly colorful, spirited, and vibrantly exciting sports in all the world."
- Richard Whittingham, The Rites of Autumn