OUR TOWN
Taylor Ducks have been proudly quacking for more than 100 years. It all started with a rainy football season in 1924, a coach named Drake, a huge wave of school pride, and unprecedented success over Taylor’s most bitter rival at the time, Georgetown.
In the fall of 1924, Coach C.R. Drake was beginning his second year at Taylor High School on Seventh Street. He coached all the boys’ sports and taught the manual training classes.
During his first year in Taylor, Drake’s popularity quickly rose after one particular game. Since becoming a school sport in 1912, Taylor’s football team had never won a game against Georgetown.
The school’s yearbook referred to the “jinx” that Georgetown held over Taylor. However, during the 1923 season, the Green and White held the Eagles to a 0-0 tie, which was considered a huge win for Taylor.
School pride soared as Taylor High School kicked off the 1924 football season, and the annual Nov. 11 Armistice Day game against Georgetown drew near. The 1924 season had been especially rainy, and fans began to say the team looked like a flock of Ducks on the muddy field.
On Nov. 5, just a few days before the muchanticipated Georgetown game, someone called the team “Drake’s Ducks” for the first time. When the big day arrived, the team won their first game ever against Georgetown, 3-0, and they won their first game as Taylor Ducks.
For the remainder of Drake’s tenure, the team was referred to as “Drake’s Ducks.” When he left Taylor at the end of the 1929-30 school year, the “Duck” remained and we have been the Taylor Ducks ever since.
Prior to 1924, Taylor High School did not have a mascot. As athletics began to develop, the word “Mascot” began to appear, referring to a younger boy who simply accompanied one of the athletic
teams. In 1936, second-grader Phil Pierce became Taylor’s first costumed mascot. One day as he was watching his older brother, Sidney, practice with the team, young Phil went up to Coach T.H. Johnson during a break and announced, “Coach Johnson, I want to be the mascot.” Johnson agreed and ordered the new mascot, a smaller uniform exactly like the team wore, along with a green sweater with a large “T” for Taylor and a little “M” for mascot.
Phil chose No. 77 after his childhood football hero, Red Grange, with the Chicago Bears.
This historic uniform is on display in the Duck Room Museum.
Today’s costumed Duck mascot is Waddles, a member of the cheer team and a muchloved part of Taylor ISD. Waddles is a main attraction at pep rallies and games as well as events at elementary schools and in the community.
Our classic cartoon Duck that bears a strong resemblance to Disney’s Donald Duck is Drallam, which is Mallard spelled backwards.
The story of how Taylor’s mascot became the Duck was preserved for us by Johnson, a former coach, superintendent and historian for Taylor. Johnson came to Taylor as assistant to Drake in 1926, just two years after the now famous rainy season.
He recorded much of the history we know today about the local schools and community. T. H. Johnson Elementary School is named in his honor.
Join me next week as we talk about Walt Disney’s now famous autograph to the Taylor Ducks back in 1941. Until then, make it a great week.
