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Texans' star TORO named to 2025 Mascot Hall of Fame Class

Texans' star TORO named to 2025 Mascot Hall of Fame Class

USA Today17-06-2025
Texans' star TORO named to 2025 Mascot Hall of Fame Class
The Houston Texans have one player in the Pro Football Hall of Fame with wide receiver Andre Johnson.
They also now have one mascot forever enshrined in their repsective field.
Texans' official mascot, TORO, will be inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2025, the Mascot Hall of Fame Executive Committee announced Tuesday morning. TORO, who made his debut in 2002, will become the second Houston-based mascot to join the Hall of Fame, alongside Astros' longtime mascot Orbit, a 2024 recipient.
'We are so proud to have TORO inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame and we share this recognition with Texans fans everywhere,' Houston Texans Senior Mascot Program Manager Andrew Johnson said. 'The city of Houston helped bring TORO to life by giving him an identity within the community. We can't wait to celebrate TORO in the Mascot Hall of Fame this season and for him to continue bringing joy to fans of all ages.'
TORO joins an elite group of 33 mascots already enshrined in the Hall, recognized for excellence across collegiate, professional and independent sports. The Texans will recognize TORO for this distinguished honor in a Mascot Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony during halftime of one of their home game this season.
Established by the original Phillie Phanatic David Raymond (1978-1993), The Mascot Hall of Fame celebrates the power of mascot entertainment as a tool for education, creativity and community engagement, offering a family-friendly environment dedicated to honoring the characters that bring joy and energy to audiences around the globe.
TORO earned the highest number of votes amongst the Executive Committee and ranked highest for public votes of all mascots on the ballot. An 11-time Pro Bowl honoree, the face of the Texans is renowned for his high-flying stunts, hilarious social media pranks and energizing presence as the conductor of the crowd at Texans home games.
Beyond gameday activities, TORO has been deeply involved in the Houston community through his elementary school program, including TORO Takes the BULL Out of Bullying and visits to Texans community partners. In addition, TORO also wrote his first children's book, 'Made To Be A Mascot', which highlights the importance of celebrating each other's differences.
The Texans open at home on Sept. 15 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football.
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Fantasy Baseball 2-Start Pitcher Rankings: With options limited, focusing on one-start streamers seems ideal
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Fantasy Baseball 2-Start Pitcher Rankings: With options limited, focusing on one-start streamers seems ideal

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Is it art or just one big hoax? This rising AI band could be both

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Enter Email Sign Up 'We live in a world now where things that are fake have sometimes even more impact than things that are real,' Frelon, who called himself the band's spokesperson, Ironically, it turns out, we have to ask if Frelon himself was for real. After Rolling Stone interviewed the 'spokesperson,' the X account that claims to speak for the 'real' Velvet Sundown Advertisement 'Someone is attempting to hijack the identity of The Velvet Sundown by releasing unauthorized interviews, publishing unrelated photos, and creating fake profiles claiming to represent us,' the post read in part. It gets weirder. The self-professed spokesperson with the assumed name recently published a piece on Whoever is behind the band and whatever their intent, for Berklee College of Music professor Jonathan Wyner, the music is forgettable. 'My initial thought was, I don't really understand what the big deal is, because it's really not very good,' he told the Globe. 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