Unmasked: The life of a Ticats mascot

For years, Jimmy Hayes spent his nights onstage, entertaining crowds as part of the former Hamilton roots-rock powerhouse Harlan Pepper.

But last summer, he found a new gig with a much larger audience – he just had to trade in his guitar for a giant furry tiger head.

From June to November, Hayes suited up as beloved mascot TC for every single Tiger-Cats home game. In true Hamilton fashion, all it took was a friend passing on his name to the right people to get the job.

CBC Hamilton caught up with Hayes to talk about life behind the mask, what the Ticats mean to the city, and the hazards of being swarmed by screaming kids in a giant ill-fitting tiger suit.

Q: What does it take to be a mascot?

It takes a lot of endurance. Once you put the mask on, it's probably at least an hour before you get to take it off – and you're sweating more than you ever have.

You're also not allowed to speak. As much as it's a good time and it's a lot of fun dancing and interacting with the fans, it's hard to keep yourself together without talking or taking a break.

Q: So the team told you weren't able to talk at all?

I think they told me that – I think that's part of the general mascot code of conduct, that you keep your mouth shut (laughs). I was given a handler to keep me moving and if somebody was taking up too much time she could get me to the next spot.

Q: What do you remember about the first time that you put on the mask and did a game?

Well, right after I got the phone call I called into work and took the next day off to prepare my summersaults and my cartwheels, which I had never worked on in my life.

Then when I got to the game, I remember being shocked that all the moves I had worked out weren't going to be possible with my heavy gear and trying to keep the helmet on.

And I was just shocked by the vision. TC is the original mascot – they now have Stripes, who is the new star of the show – but TC, they haven't really updated his costume much since 1984, I think.

I was shocked by the lack of vision and how much I'd need to rely on my handler to keep me from walking into poles or falling down the stairs.

And the amount of children that swarm you – I thought I was going to be doing rock kicks and cartwheels, but as soon as you get out there, there are kids on every side of you.

But you can't actually see them, so you can't really make any abrupt moves without risking kicking a kid in the face.

Q: Did you think about yourself as being good with kids before you did this?

Uh, in a very different way. I'm studying to become a schoolteacher, but that kind of relies on talking to kids and making them laugh. So this was totally different where I couldn't speak and I'm dancing.

I'd never danced for kids before, that's for sure. It also turns out that a lot of young kids are afraid when they see a big tiger, so I had to let them know without speaking that I'm, uh, a nice tiger (laughs).

Q: Is there any particular moment that sticks out to you from the season?

Definitely. When they played the Alouettes and they were retiring Angelo Mosca's jersey. I never saw him play, but I read his book and I'm a pretty big fan. Getting to meet him was really great.

But because he was also a wrestler they had a wrestling ring set up in one of the endzones, which was kind of the prop I was hoping for all season.

So I got to throw in a guy wearing one of the Alouettes' jerseys into the ring and wrestle with him for about a minute before security put a kibosh on it. But that was a lot of fun. Getting up on the turnstiles was a highlight for sure.

Q: There's really nothing more quintessentially Hamilton than a Ticats game. Having lived it on the field, how do you see the Ticats as part of Hamilton's identity?

I always saw it as one of the biggest symbols of Hamilton. As it kind of changes from being the steel city to an arts city, the Ticats are something that have been there all along and will always be a big part of Hamilton.

As a kid, I once won the junior Ticat of the game – so I have pictures of me as an eight-year-old with TC, whoever that was at the time. So it's cool to be on the other side and take pictures of kids and know that they might have that picture 15 years from now.