Name-a-Day Calendar, December 1: Boise State Broncos

Page 25 of 365

Chosen in: 1932

Chosen by: Football players Preston Hale and Owen Sproat

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Boise State University was a junior college from its founding in 1932 through 1965. Its early history reads like the founders never expected their athletic brand to eventually become one of the most recognizable in college sports.

They started by borrowing their jerseys from a local high school; the jerseys were black and red, so that was their first-ever color scheme. Imagine.

Two players on the initial football team — Preston Hale and Owen Sproat — were tasked with choosing the school’s first official mascot and color scheme. They chose “Broncos” as the nickname and went with an orange and blue color scheme; to hear them tell it, they chose both because they wanted something unique to the area.

Watch a 1997 interview with Hale and Sproat here.

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