The MSU Sparty Abomination Hidden Deep In Campus Storage

Michigan State University is known for its athletics as much as it is for its academics. Over the years the school has become one of the most prestigious schools in all of college athletics. While most students are only with the program for a few years, there is one face that has been around since nearly the beginning.

Since 1955, Sparty has been the face of MSU culture. However, the version of Sparty we’ve seen since 1989 is major improvement over the original version that started it all. This version had been seemingly lost to time…until now. For the first time in years, the Sparty of old has resurfaced and he is looking rough. 

The original Sparty helmet was made of papier-mâché by the Theta Xi fraternity and was six feet tall and weighed over 60 pounds. After it was retired, the massive helmet disappeared into storage. You can view footage of the helmet in action here and going to the 1:31 mark.

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In retrospect, the helmet looked kind of silly, and the mascot we have now is a welcome change, but even today,y the scale of the helmet is very impressive.

This relic has been in storage for years, but it hasn’t been alone. Sparty’s signature ride, his trusty chariot, has been in storage with him.

The head and chariot plan to remain in storage, but it’s sad that something that played such an integral role in Spartan history is just sitting in storage somewhere. It would be nice to see this utilized somehow.