Zack Mills

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Zack Mills was the Tiger mascot for the 1978 and 1979 seasons. Mills, who Clemson legend Bob Bradley once called, "perhaps the most innovative and fun-loving Tiger of all," is responsible for starting the push up tradition. After each Clemson score at a football game, the Tiger mascot does push ups equal to the total score Clemson has in the game.

The pushups were originally done in the east endzone and the Clemson kicker would delay the kickoff until the pushups were done. Mills also was known to sit in a lounge chair in the end zone while opposing teams were driving in that direction. He pretended to watch a television in front of him and drink out of a oversized, inflatable Heineken bottle to taunt the opposing offense and excite the crowd. The NCAA ended the fun by banning mascots from entering the field of play during the course of the game after the 1978 season. The pushups have been performed on a board held up by the cheerleaders near the student section ever since.

Mills graduated in 1980 and attended veterinary medicine graduate school at the University of Georgia in Athens. He currently lives in Duluth, Georgia where he owns Tiger Tails Animal Hospital.

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