The southernmost team in the entire NFL is the Miami Dolphins from the state of Florida. Playing in the AFC conference, the Dolphins ironically find themselves in the AFC East division instead of the AFC South. With teams like the Bills, Patriots, and the Jets in the same division, the Dolphins are the furthest away and have to travel the most distances for their divisional games.
While the franchise was formed back in 1965, the current mascot for the team was only introduced in 1997. This is the era that coincided with the end of Dan Marino’s time in Miami as he retired after the 1999 season.
Who is T.D.
T.D. is the mascot for the Miami Dolphins NFL team. Certain people refer to his name as initials for The Dolphin, while others think it comes from Touchdown. T.D. has been to eight Pro Bowls all while he became the first mascot to participate in the Hall of Fame game held in Canton, Ohio.
T.D. 's suit is a complete light gray costume. He wears the Dolphins jersey and pants alternating between the team colors of white and aqua. The mascot has a fin on its back, big blue eyes on both sides and wears a relatively small Dolphins helmet on his head.
His main job during games is to entertain the crowd and get them energized when the team is on the field. He has been involved in some rather funny interactions with the fans, especially one incident caught on camera where he was giving high fives to the fans but completely ignoring a Bills fan.
Dolphins mascot T.D. salary
The exact salary wage of T.D. could not be found but it is believed that his earnings would lie somewhere in between the range of approximately $50,000 to $60,000 annually. This is the average that NFL mascots earn. A few mascots do earn a little more but generally speaking, this is the range in which NFL mascots are paid. Furthermore, T.D. also earns a handsome side income from the various external events he is a part of. Similar to other mascots in the league, T.D. can also be requested to make appearances at birthday parties, get-togethers, corporate events, charities, schools, hospitals, etc. Some mascots also visit places and give life lectures, especially to youths who need someone to help them through life’s difficulties.
Is the Miami Dolphins mascot a real dolphin?
The Miami Dolphins mascot from 1997 is a costumed dolphin and is not a real mascot. However, back in 1966, the franchise did have a live dolphin named Flipper as their mascot. Flipper used to be kept in a tank on the eastern side of the Orange Bowl stadium which is where the Dolphins used to play their home games for their first 21 seasons.
Flipper was trained to jump up in the tank whenever the Dolphins scored. Having a real mascot perform tricks is always very eye-catching but, unfortunately, the team decided to discontinue the idea in 1968 as it was getting difficult to maintain and pay for the transportation and repair costs of the tank.
FAQs
A. T.D. is the mascot for the Miami Dolphins.
A. The current mascot for the Dolphins is a costumed dolphin. However, from 1966 to 1968 the team used a real dolphin named Flipper as their mascot.
A. The Dolphins mascot T.D. is completely light gray in color with big blue eyes on its side.
A. The very first person to have played T.D. was Bill Bant who got the job in 1997. He went on to remain the Dolphins mascot for the next ten years.
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