Mia Intagliata
Truman the Tiger has fulfilled a legacy of prancing around sports games and twirling his fluffy black and gold tail while wowing crowds with his silly antics since 1986. In 1998, the University of Missouri gained a Truman that would go on to become a Kansas City state senator: Greg Razer.
For Razer, being Truman meant more than putting on a tiger head.
“I love the fact that [when] you put on that costume, you’re not you anymore,” Razer said. “As Truman, you are larger than life.”
The role included long hours in a sweaty fur suit attending approximately 250 activities on top of Mizzou sporting events, but it let Razer be playful in a way that only a mascot can get away with.
“I used to walk up behind bald men and get the tail and shine their head,” Razer said. “I couldn’t do that just with a rag and walk up behind some man and start polishing his head. I’d get punched.”
While some universities make it a goal to hide the identity of the mascot, Razer mentioned that the people close to him had their suspicions.
“I don’t know how [other schools] pulled that off,” Razer said. “My friends would have been like, ‘Greg, why aren’t you coming to football games anymore? And how would I explain that – When I’m putting Truman in the washing machine?”
As a lifelong fan of professional wrestling, Razer was inspired by the way wrestlers often adopt a more amplified persona of themselves in the ring.
“That’s kind of me as Truman,” Razer said. “It was just me times 1,000.”
He carried these experiences with him beyond college, especially as he climbed the political ladder to be state senator. His skills of projecting and performing to a whole stadium contributed to his affability in office.
“I took that even as I ran for office, to remember not everyone is right in front of me,” Razer said. “I need to make sure I’m projecting enough so that all of my constituents know that I’m fighting [for them].”
Razer added that his rural upbringing motivated him to represent a community much bigger than him.
“I grew up in a house that was centered in thousands of acres of cotton, and that was my childhood,” Razer said. “I ended up going from that to being the senator for Kansas City, representing 180,000 people.”
During his time as Truman, Razer not only appealed to the MU community, but also to people in Columbia. Razer recalled how impactful one specific event was on his life: A young girl with a terminal illness dreamed of meeting Truman, and he got to fulfill that wish.
“She inhaled and couldn’t believe it,” Razer said. “I could tell she was trying with all of her strength to lift herself up so she could hug me.”
The powerful history of those who walked through the columns and around campus before him was a particularly important subject for Razer.
“I still kind of get a little teary eyed about it,” Razer said. “I represented the Columns and I think about how many students have walked under the shadows of those six columns [since then].”
Although Razer only got to portray Truman for a brief period, he always kept in mind that he was representing the flagship institution of the state of Missouri. It was a larger responsibility than just being a man in a tiger suit.
“You’re representing something much bigger than you, or the home of the Tigers. You are the Tiger,” Razer said.
Edited by Ainsley Bryson | [email protected]
Copy edited by Veronica Butler and Ava Mohror | [email protected]
Edited by Alex Gribb | [email protected]