[1] Utah Governor Gary Herbert declared October 10, 2013 as "Jazz Bear Day" in recognition of his 20th season as the Utah Jazz' mascot, and also his countless hours of community and public service and his standing as an important citizen of Utah. I wouldnt be able to call you and say, Dan, how are you doing? You reply back. NBA Mascot: When kids are involved in charities, they see how everything comes together. Incidentally, he was also fired from his very first job as a mascot for the CBA for all those stunts he tried out. [1] Yes, as far as the NBAMascots.com can find, Jazz Bear has been the one mascot for the Utah . The Laybournes even roped in a celebrity: Bear, the mascot of the Utah Jazz. I couldnt believe they allowed it. They had said, Dont worry about it. This year, the Utes will face Penn State. His name was Mark and he would teach me after hours and stuff. I would love to see it go back to where a fan could get an autograph or talk to a player. Jazz Bear made his official debut during the 1990-91 NBA season. Did you conceive the idea of a bear or how did that idea come to fruition? Before, I would show up, meet people, and Id go, but I never felt so connected as I do now with people, with children and their parents, because now I get to talk to them and see them. I love you because everything you say and do is you mean and live it. Shes just a good old girl. When I would submit my stuff, Luke would always say, Why do you keep showing them the stuff youre doing? I know this pushed me and Im glad I did it because it worked. I said, If I dont share it and nobodys trying to copy it, one, I dont know if its good enough to that Im doing this. Rules dont change or anything. It was tough. Mascot Team 2005 Clutch: Houston Rockets: 2006 Jazz Bear: Utah Jazz: 2007 Hugo the Hornet: New Orleans Hornets: 2008 Jazz Bear (2) Utah Jazz 2009 Rumble the Bison: Oklahoma City Thunder: 2010 Bango: Milwaukee Bucks: 2011 Grizz: Memphis Grizzlies: 2012 Crunch the Wolf: Minnesota Timberwolves: 2013 Clutch (2) Houston Rockets 2014 The Coyote We had a mat there and I crashed into the mat because thats how fast you were going. Mark would always hang out and Brenda would walk over and say, This is the situation, and Mark would pull out a credit card and hed cover the $2,000 that we were short. Some guys in the cheaper suits look through the neck. I remember hitting the ground, and just running. I went, I get it! Absey is telling all in a new podcast called "Return to Real.". Jazz Bear was introduced to the league on November 4, 1994. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. { They formed the mask to fit my face so that it fits perfectly right around my eyes. He was probably best known for sledding down the stairs of Vivint Smart Home Arenas aisles and emptying a seemingly endless supply of Silly String onto opposing fans. "They thought I was either going to kill myself or. This archived news story is available When you think about it, these athletes are playing the kids games. I remember running up the wall another time and putting two big holes in it, but they were patient with me. Wiki User. That was all I was told. Dec 16, 2013, 05:10 PM EST. The first-round series between the Clippers and Jazz has been a back-and-forth battle so far, but the Jazz mascot just kicked it up a notch. Ive been to a number of games where the stars arent playing. "coverDisplay":false, Its an opportunity to entertain people without spending as much as it was back then to go to a game. They were approachable. The Jazz Bear has been their mascot since 1994 and Jon Absey has been behind the costume since the beginning. I see them all the time through out a game. I was there for a number of years and then came back to school in Moorhead, Minnesota, at the Moorhead State, and then I joined the military to help pay for college. Behind every successful husband is an astonished mother-in-law. The man behind Jazz Bear has been fired after a reported rift with the Utah Jazz. The NBAs longest-tenured mascot, he performed in more than 800 games, winning Mascot of the Year honors five times, including last season, when he also captured Leadership and Best Video awards at the NBA Mascot Conference, per The Salt Lake Tribune. She ran over to join the group to dance and I collapsed on the floor. According to the Provo Daily Herald, there are currently more than 350 active walking groups using theWalking School Bus app across the state. Thats why I like a lot of these minor league sports teams like the Warriors here and Utah Grizzlies, those are players that they want to elevate, but they still understand that its those fans in the seats that are making us have the ability to play and hopefully get to their goal. Out of respect for his character, which is separate from any employee ever associated with it, we have never discussed his identity. I wrapped my hand in, we do the practice, but I did it off a ladder that was probably fourteen feet. That kid took a knee. Before I go out, I was working on doing a flag where you would hold yourself out sideways on a bar and I was going to do it up top and then my guys below would spin it so that I would spin around the top of the ladder, but thankfully I never had to do it. Being named Professional Mascot of the Year five times across all professional sports and being inducted into the Professional Mascot Hall of Fame gives us an inside glimpse into the insane creativity and intense courage required to be a world-class mascot and crazy entertainer. There were a number of times when he would show me how to throw a full-off on a tramp. The Mascot Assistant represents the Utah Jazz and the Utah Jazz Bear brand and must represent oneself in a professional manner as they interact with Jazz fans in the arena and community. The Bear first debuted by. In this Read more, Listen to the podcast here After serving in a church mission,Devaughn Velefelt inspired to return to football. He was famous in our neighborhood because little kids would come home, have a lemonade stand, and Karl would pull up and pay a hundred dollars for a couple of glasses of lemonade and bring them home. We do not discuss individual personnel matters.". "url":"", He needs all the help he can get, but Jon doesnt need any help. The three years you were a junior in high school, you almost killed the whole faculty? The Jazz Bear unmasked. What happened is sports teams started glorifying these guys so much and paying them such big amounts of money, and then what they did was they put a bigger wedge between the fans and the players. Why the Phoenix Suns Gorilla arrived in the winter of 1980 isnt nearly as intriguing as what hes done since he arrived. It was called American Gold Gymnastics. Jon shares his inspiring story of taking advantage of opportunities and the challenges of balancing family and work and living a purpose-driven life. Until October 2018. "url":"#" To qualify, kids downloadedUDOTs Walking School Bus app, then used it to log each completed walk or bike ride to school. I could plant seeds, but you can start rattling them off. When asked to lean the cake over to give the crowd a better view, the bear tilted it over a little too much, sending the baked good hurling down several feet to . Out of respect for his character, which is separate from any employee ever associated with it, we have never discussed his identity. The man behind Jazz Bear has been fired after a reported rift with the Utah Jazz. Jazz Bear will continue to be one of the most iconic mascots in the NBA, said Jazz spokesman Frank Zang. In this YouTube video, the Utah Jazz Bear gets revenge on a Houston Rockets fan who poured beer on the mascot's head during a game. Now they rank in the top 10 teams in the Western Conference. "subscribe" Of course its fake. Thats when I realized I got a great guardian angel. or superseded by additional information. On Monday afternoon, Bear was officially recognized (once again) as the best in the business of making hoops fans in-arena experience a great one. Phoenix Suns/Mascots Thankfully for American Gold Gymnastics, theyre the ones who lent their facility for me to learn and train. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images). window.FuseboxPlayerAPIKey = '736|Bt3uGzU4xc0sddXrD2L8BnN1FwLmic13Qk65z0pZRktxo58SWbNAcFgDsC3FYQ3MK0XyoUWYU7WUaQjG'; "url":"", They thought I was either going to kill myself or kill a fan, he said. He said he never feared anything he could control. "title":"Power Players with Dan Clark", Coming from a farm, I dont know if its those types of values, but if you can, you help others out. Bear joined a group of students fromEagle Valley Elementary School in Eagle Mountain, UT less than 24 hours after being announced as the NBAs Mascot of the Year for the 2017-18 season for breakfast, after which he walked the kids to school. }, Hes like, Did you take a job with the other teams? I was like, No. He goes, What are you going to do? I said, I dont know. He goes, Why dont you come out here? He talked to me like I was then. Even though Ive been gone for a while, Im still in touch with everybody. "link":false, The man behind Jazz Bear, the reigning Mascot of the Year, has been fired after almost a quarter-century with the team due to "a rift" with the organization, according to multiple reports out. This man pulled up in this car. They said, What did he look like? Theyre describing this huge superstar kind, teddy bear. I felt like I needed to give back. Dick Butkus, the guys that are from Meyer that I grew up idolizing, played for the love of the game and had a second career or another job in the off-season so they could pay their bills. Why the mascot for the Utah Jazz is a bear.and why is name is simply just "Bear".still baffles me. Im like, Why didnt you call me? Why couldnt I be your bodyguard? Bleacher Creatures Utah Jazz Bear 10" Mascot Plush Figure. I was so thankful that I didnt go. As we wind down, give us an inside glimpse of what happens when you raise the money at the Mascot Bowl and what happens when we team up with the fire department. I started a mascot conference, a few years into when I had started mascotting. When I put on the suit, a lot of fear went away, said Absey. But he said he realized everyone could be just one management change from being let go. I was a Forward Observer and I volunteered. I remember Luke Larson, my assistant, I love him. . You come to the Jazz in 93. Absey had suited up as the Jazz Bear in more than 800 home games and won the 2017-18 NBA Mascot of the Year award this summer, his third time winning the award. We lived down the street and I wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood. To your point, Kay Malone invites my mother in, gives her a tour of her brand-new house, and takes her on a tour of the entire room that Karl built with plexiglass cases of every single member of the dream team with autographs, shoes, jersey, shorts, everything. The Jazz Bear was the third of three mascots to dunk over future President Trump in the video. }, Who could replace him as Utah GOP state party chair, In dry West, farmers balk at idling land to save water, 27% of Utah students are chronically absent. He can still do the splits at age 52. God bless their souls, Stephen and Minnie, they were this older couple that would always come down to the cage and bring Luke and me drinks and cookies. } And why did they do this recreation, you ask? It is not publicly known how much the person who plays Jazz Bear makes. The Jazz did not cite Absey by name, but did confirm his ouster, alerting media that a new mystery person will be inside the Jazz Bear costume when Utah hosts the Golden State Warriors in Fridays home opener. Fuckin' hilarious. The Jazz suffered their second straight loss to a team near the bottom of the standings thanks to a turnover-prone outing against the Thunder. "tunein":{ 15-year-old boy dies after being found in crashed car with gunshot wounds, Do not 'push a slower friend down' if you encounter a bear, National Park Service warns, Police say man killed by Farmington officers had gun; victim's mom filed suit over other traffic stop, Suspect in Dylan Rounds disappearance charged with murder, Police investigating serious crash on I-215 offramp, Man struck, killed by FrontRunner in Clearfield, Trapped fox 'severely' injures dog in Draper, prompts warning from city, 14-year-old uses social media to track down man accused of robbing him, Northern Utah man faces 30 felonies in child pornography case. Bear finishes the performance with a front flip dunk over a smiling Trump. Were here for you to Its all about me. The only thing I had is I had a nose that dropped my lower peripheral. Thank you, everybody. They thought I was either going to kill myself or kill a fan, he said. Thank you very much for that. Tell us about your philanthropic efforts. One thing led to another, and he was asked to try out to be the Jazz mascot in the early 1990s. I remember Stephen and Minnie going out one night and they had asked Greg Foster if hed wanted to come over for dinner. He is known for his fearless and unapologetic approach to entertaining the crowd, often pushing the boundaries of what is expected from a game's charm. Jazz Bear first appeared in 1989 as part of a marketing campaign for the team. I was in the Army. I still stay in touch with all these guys and thats what I love is that were a tight brotherhood. I was fortunate that I had a good enough vision that if I could do something out of the suit, I could do it in the suit. But he said he realized everyone could be just one management change from being let go. All the other leagues copied it. You got other guys that look through the mouth like the Denver Broncos. That is a testimony to what guys they were. Im not topping that. I was fortunate to have something that we called the bear crew. Im a fan of a team in that the players appreciate me being there and spending that hard-earned money to come to watch them play. That is until the children. Information in the story may be outdated I grew up in avenues in Salt Lake City, Utah, Karl Malone built his house up there and its in my mothers neighborhood, down the street on the same street as my mom. It was just silly string. Welcome to the show. He said, Yes, and he showed up. You started mascotting in 93, and thats not when you came to the Jazz and was way before when you did everything else? SportsPulse: Jeff Zillgitt and Trysta Krick put their prediction hats on for some bold takes as the NBA season gets set to begin. He was 1 of the 3 highest-paid professional baseball players in the entire league. Did someone teach you so you could be a teacher or did you just show up and figure it out? Over time, the job took a toll. He was the best & always willing to drop by with a confetti cannon. In this Read more. "Jazz Bear will continue to be one of the most iconic mascots in the NBA," a Jazz spokesperson said in a statement. My vision was my eyes. I turned all those down and this is where the team supported me. Then a couple of months later, theyre the ones who get to take the other kids Christmas shopping. Youre going to agree with me on this, but to me, being successful isnt about having a big bank account. I ended up out on the third-floor ledge and chilling out because in my head, I was like, Im bored. I was so ADHD. On the way, I was talking to Bob Woolf. Talk to us about your exercise program. Every successful superstar is someone on a team that is behind the scenes that make us look great. Antoine Davis finished four points shy of surpassing Pete Maravich as the NCAA career scoring leader, scoring 22 vs. Youngstown State. Jazz Bear (@utahjazzbear) on TikTok | 7.6M Likes. Inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame in 2006, Absey. Reading or replaying the story in its They immediately all pointed at me. Being a mascot was great. He is a bright, energetic, and lovable character who loves to show off his signature dance moves and have fun with fans. 1 of 5 Perhaps the most glaringly obvious example of a team name being unrepresentative of its current home is the Utah Jazz. It was awesome. I was out doing appearances a lot of times to supplement my income. I love them for that and they still come to this day. We do not discuss individual personnel matters.. Honestly, I was never a gymnast. Im going to do it. To me, its a tradition and Im a big tradition guy. But there will be a new face inside the bear as the team hosts the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors. I knew that I needed to give back to show my gratitude. "label":"Apple Podcasts" It happened Monday as the Jazz claimed their fourth. The fans and the team were so accepting of the character and I appreciated that. We always said, The Jazz Bear is here, and the Jazz Bear would show up, but I wanted everybody to know Jon Absey showed up who happened to be the Jazz Bear. You are always so generous and went out of your way. 2023 Bonneville International. Its so fun because we used high schools and we like to have kids get involved. As were zipping in first-time doing a full go, it started to unravel. Its moments like that you realize these high school kids are getting to see what reality is. Long-time Former Jazz Bear tells all https://t.co/maNuOwLk8Q, Mary Richards (@kslmrichards) January 15, 2020. I grew up with older brothers and sisters and how much they beat me up helped. Grant Harrison trusted me so much. I took my head off and I looked and I hooked into a cargo strap, which holds about fifteen pounds. Like there are three different types of mascots, there are a whole bunch of different types of vision when it comes to a head. I'm grateful that the maker of my handmade journals, Utah-based Rustico, became an underwriter. I was like, Game on. I worked so hard and I literally got my splits back and I still think I did it better than before. You have your athletic mascots like Thunder from Golden State back when he was dunking and stuff and Lucky from Boston. Since Jazz Bear's introduction, he has performed at over 800 Jazz home games. Jazz Bear told Fox the Starzz were looking for a mascot. That was my first experience before I came with you. SALT LAKE CITY (News4Utah)- The man that has worn the Utah Jazz mascot since 1994 has been fired. My only thought was, Im not letting her die. I dont care what happens to me because of the stupid decision that we decided because were doing Phantom of the Opera.