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The best of Gritty’s offseason adventures

By Brennin Weiswerda

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August 1, 2019 10:32 am

The Philadelphia Flyers lost their last hockey game of the season in April, but less than a month later, their mascot Gritty started winning the entire summer. He’s receiving awards, posing for magazine covers, and rescuing hermit crabs. In other words: he’s living his best life.

He started off with a remake of Lil Nas X’s viral “Old Town Road” music video.

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old McGritty had a farm… #derbyday

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Gritty (and the brilliant minds behind him) won a Webby Award for Best Sports Team in social media.

There was a truly epic video tribute to the most popular mascot in all sports, with a voiceover narration to match: “In the storied history of Philadelphia sports, a handful of superstars have dominated the competition, elevated the game, and inspired the nation to believe in something greater.”

Jenny Slate also delivered a touching speech about our orange dreamboat. “We can all agree on one thing: that Gritty is insane. And also the best.” Gritty then came onstage to receive his trophy and deliver and 8-squeak, 5-word acceptance speech.

He also won the NHL Fan Choice award for best mascot.

Apparently, winning awards and attaining music video stardom wasn’t enough to fill his time, so he shared his resume on Twitter–with the caveat that he was looking for seasonal work only. The “Nicolas Cage Independence & Patriotism Award Scholarship Recipient” thoughtfully included his AIM handle in the contact info. It was done in all Comic Sans.

Kenan Thompson–Mighty Duck skater and Good Burger employee–invited him to Saturday Night Live. “We got to get him on,” said knuckle puck specialist Russ Tyler. “It’d be awesome for a cold open with Trump or something.”

He marched in his first Pride Parade, proudly bearing a rainbow flag with the brown and black stripes to represent the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community, as noted by Teen Vogue.

After a cute Twitter exchange, the Merriam-Webster dictionary declared him a National Treasure.

There’s not many people who go to the Jersey Shore to “keep their chakras aligned” and take a ride on a motorcycle, but Gritty’s not really “people.”

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Keeping my chakra aligned at the Jersey Shore

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Gritty’s guards (who have their own Instagram account) commented that “The package has found inner peace.”

He made a friend during his Jersey Shore sojourn, and shockingly, it wasn’t Snooki. Instead, it was a hermit crab, who Gritty named after his favorite human: Flyers captain Claude Giroux.

The internet went crazy for Claw’d the rescue crab.

He donned sunglasses and a whistle for a reenactment of the pool scene from season three of Stranger Things.

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Dig the new suit Mrs. Wheeler

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He was on the cover of Philadelphia Magazine’s “Best of Philly” issue, and “read the pictures” as Claw’d the crab kept him company close by.

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I just like to read the pictures

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Gritty’s costumes for the magazine cover were all tributes to Philly legends. He raised his fists as Rocky, sported Will Smith’s fresh duds from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, played the drums as Questlove, sewed the flag in Betty Ross garb, posed with the Phillies’ mascot Phanatic (sporting a dashing ‘stache) as Hall and Oates, recreated the cover of Tina Fey’s book “Bossypants,” and danced a merry jig as a Mummer.

He doesn’t just shoot photos–he also shot the Penguins mascot Iceburgh with a digital t-shirt cannon on National Video Game Day. It’s very satisfying to watch.

The end of the offseason is closing in, but what mischief will Gritty get up to in the meantime?

Headline image: @GrittyNHL