Q&A: Rodney the Ram talks hoops, mascot life

Lindsey FitzGerald 
Contributing Writer

The CT caught up with Rodney the Ram on the phone this week to hear his views on VCU’s competitive edge heading into the men’s basketball season, what it takes to be a mascot and what to look forward to in the season ahead.

CT: What was the shift in Rodney’s appearance like last year?

RR: I think Rodney established himself much more like the university has in recent years. He switched over from a lovable personality to a more aggressive, more competitive ram … He transitioned over from more of like a laid-back, passive ram, to more an aggressive go-getter.

CT: How does he reflect the university?

RR: In my opinion, I think that it reflects, in recent years, the moves we’ve made, especially in the past two years, making moves to get back to the Final Four … and, for the first time, VCU’s been ranked in the top-25 preseason poll. So I think that is kind of the new persona we’re taking on, is being more of an aggressive competitor.

CT: Is Rodney’s persona different  when he’s not at basketball games?

RR: Rodney is the same. Rodney’s personality is a very swagger-filled, confident, (masculine) ram that has a soft side for children and a hard side for competitive teams. As far as any type of rivalry we have or any opposition other than VCU, Rodney doesn’t take well to. But he reacts well to children and carries himself with a lot of confidence and a lot of swagger.

CT: What does it take to be Rodney the Ram?

RR: The audition process is a question and answer, kind of a review of what you know about VCU, a brief history of VCU, then we do like a dance and crowd pump-up audition, as well as a minor physical test, to make sure you can keep up with all the physical demands of Rodney … The suit gets very hot so it’s important to have somebody that can withstand that.

CT: What is the dance audition like?

RR: It’s a two and a half minute work where you have to be able to go up and down the court, basically like working the crowd, but you have to involve some jumping as well as some running … The suit weighs around 25 pounds, but it’s made out of really thick cotton, so it’s really hot.

CT: What’s a day in the life of Rodney like on a basketball game day? 

RR: Rodney shows up to the arena about an hour and a half before and stretches out. He kind of watches a bit, but you know he doesn’t come out until game time so he hangs out in his locker room, stretches out, warms up, gets a feel for what’s going to happen and then once game mode hits, he’s just 100 percent full-blown ram power.

CT: How do you balance paying attention to the game and engaging with the crowd?

RR: That comes as kind of a feel thing. The position is very reactionary. You’ve got to be ready to react with the crowd. That’s one important thing, is knowing the rules and knowing when — there’s only certain occasions you can actually do something, just in the general terms of a mascot. You can’t start up a riot against a call or anything … There are certain times you’re not allowed to be on or around the court … that affects determining those times where maybe I’ll go in the crowd and try and interact with fans on a personal level, as well as when something negative happens. I might wave my hands in front of my nose, but you can never directly address a (referee) unless they address you first. So it’s just kind of reading the game and feeling what’s going on and reacting from there.

CT: Is it ever hard to hold back?

RR: There are times that, I guess you could say, in the heat of the moment, you might forget something. I know for a fact that there’s been certain Rodneys that have gone out on the court when they’re not supposed to be out there, but luckily in the past four years there haven’t been NCAA violations as a result of it.

CT: What are the consequences for violations like that?

RR: The first thing, just the most basic one, is that referees are allowed to, in a basketball situation, they are allowed to give a technical foul to the mascot. That would result in two free throw shots for the other team as well as the ball back … It could stem on up from there. The biggest restriction would be the NCAA requesting that the mascot not be present at sporting events as a result of infractions, but that’s a long way up. Like I said, we haven’t had any problems with it.

CT: What do you look forward to for the upcoming basketball season as Rodney the Ram?

RR: One thing you could say for Rodney that I look forward to is that he is a brand on the rise. So as VCU continues to grow, as the university gets more recognition nationally, Rodney kind of is synonymous with that. So we are starting to get a lot more appearances and stuff and a lot more reaction to appearances from non-VCU alumni and just Virginia residents on the basis of the success of not only basketball, but all the sports … So watching Rodney grow because his brand just gets bigger everyday that VCU does.

Rodney’s views are his opinions, not a VCU-affiliated statement.