EUGENE, Ore. -- When the University of Oregon's football team takes the field, the Duck mascot is right there with them.
Sometimes he rides out of the tunnel on a motorcycle.
When the team makes incredible plays, he's fallen down in disbelief.
The Duck is a favorite of the students.
"Oh I love Puddles," said Colleen Daly, a UO student from Vancouver, Wash.
"He's a school icon and everyone knows him. You see him at games, he's great!" she said.
Puddles is the name students gave their first mascots back in the early 1940s. Back then, they were real ducks.
By the late 1940s the school had switched to a costumed duck, which resembled Donald Duck, with the blessing of Walt Disney.
The oldest known Duck costume now stands on display at UO's athletic offices. It's a bit tattered compared to the modern version.
Today's students love their Duck mascot.
"He's the best mascot," said student Bridget O'Donnel-Davidson with a shocked look on her face. "Are you serious right now? I mean come on, he's the best college mascot! He's the Oregon Duck!"
Which is not to say the students wearing the costume were always friendly. Several years ago, the Duck got into such a tussle with the cougar from Houston that the Duck missed the next game as punishment.
And then there was the time a fan attacked the Duck at a basketball game in Vegas, only to be caught by the burly members of the cheer squad and then punched by the infuriated Duck.
But now, he or she, the school won't say who, is using the uniform is only fun-loving.
Marching band member Conner Richardson said the Duck even takes band instruments.
"He'll occasionally take my flute and pretend to play it and act like he's playing an instrument and pretend he's a part of the band and so yeah, he's a great character," Richardson said.
We wanted to talk with the student or students who wear the mascot costume but the head cheer coach said the Duck was flying back from New York and not available.
When asked about other students who wear the Duck costume, the coach refused to offer any information and would only say the identity of the Duck has always been and will always be a mystery.
