Ole Miss Introduces New Mascot 'Landshark Tony'

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Ole Miss introduces new mascot 'Landshark Tony'
  • Published: Aug. 11, 2018, 10:39 p.m.
Ole Miss on Saturday unveiled its new official athletic mascot "Landshark Tony." (Ole Miss Sports on Twitter)
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Tony Fein played linebacker at Ole Miss in 2007 and 2008. (Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)

For the second time in less than a decade, Ole Miss has a new official mascot.

The school unveiled "Landshark Tony" on Saturday, eight years after replacing Colonel Reb with the much-maligned Rebel Black Bear. Landshark Tony draws its inspiration from the Rebels' so-called "Landshark Defense," with Ole Miss players often forming their hands in the shape of a shark fin in front of their helmets following big plays.

The shark mascot also took the name "Tony" from the late Ole Miss linebacker Tony Fein, an Iraq War veteran who was the first to make the "landshark" gesture in 2008. The Landshark Tony mascot will wear the same No. 47 donned during his Rebels playing days by Fein, who died of a drug overdose in 2009.

Colonel Reb stopped appearing on the Ole Miss sidelines in 2003, after the school made a conscious effort to move away from symbols related to the Civil War. The Black Bear mascot first appeared in 2010 following a vote by students, but had been universally unpopular with much of the Ole Miss fan base before being "retired" last year.

Here's the video the school used to unveil the Landshark Tony mascot on Saturday:

Creg Stephenson headshotCreg Stephenson

Creg Stephenson is a sports writer for AL.com, with a primary focus on in-state college sports. He covers South Alabama and Troy athletics, and also writes in-depth historical features on a variety of topics... more

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