Gritty was introduced on September 24, 2018.[1] According to his official biography, Gritty emerged after construction at the
Wells Fargo Center, the Flyers' home arena, disturbed his secret hideout.[6] Within the months following his debut, Gritty became an internet sensation and made appearances on several talk shows.[7]
The impetus behind Gritty's creation started when the Flyers' marketing department attended the mascot events at the
2016 NHL All-Star Game in
Nashville, Tennessee, and realized that they were missing out on all the marketing and community outreach programs that the league's mascots were generating for their respective teams.[11] The Flyers then commissioned Brian Allen of Flyland Designs in
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, to design Gritty in August 2018.[12][13] David Raymond, who portrayed the
Phillie Phanatic, consulted on Gritty's creation.[14]
The Flyers organization wanted Gritty to have a rather intimidating appearance, as "someone you'd high-five but not hug", according to Allen.[8]
Career
Gritty was introduced on September 24, 2018,[1] and appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon several days later.[15][16] Gritty was active on social media from his debut: his odd appearance and stunts on
Twitter, such as seeming to threaten the mascot of the
Pittsburgh Penguins and recreating
Kim Kardashian's
"Break the Internet" photograph, contributed to his rise in infamy. Within days, Gritty's Twitter account had more followers than any other NHL mascot.[7] In his first on-ice appearance, Gritty fell while firing T-shirts into the crowd from a T-shirt cannon.[17] In his second appearance on ice, Gritty body-checked contestants in a goalie race during an intermission and shot a Flyers staff member with a T-shirt cannon.[17][18]
On October 13, 2019, the first ever "Gritty anti-runners 5K" took place. This 5K race included Gritty's favorite things along the track, including hot dogs, silly string, and a shrine to
Claude Giroux.[19]
In November 2019, during a fan meet-and-greet between Gritty and Flyers
season ticket holders, a fan reported that the Flyers employee portraying Gritty punched their 13-year-old son in the back. After an internal investigation by the Flyers led to no other witnesses of such abuse, the fan reported the incident to the
Philadelphia Police Department, which led its own investigation. On February 3, 2020, the Flyers employee portraying Gritty was officially cleared of any wrongdoing and charges were not filed.[20][21][22]
In May 2020, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in Pennsylvania, Gritty began wearing a
face shield.[25] In September, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health released a promotional video featuring Gritty to encourage wearing
face masks in public,[26] and in December the department and the NHL cleared Gritty to resume public appearances at Flyers games.[26][27]
Gritty appeared in the Family Guy episode: "Cootie & The Blowhard", which aired on November 7, 2021 on
Fox.[28] Gritty appeared in
ABC's Philadelphia-set sitcom Abbott Elementary in the season two premiere, "Development Day", which premiered on September 21, 2022.[29] Gritty made a professional wrestling appearance at
WWE's
Extreme Rules event held on October 8, 2022, getting beaten by
The Miz backstage who was looking for
Dexter Lumis. Eventually, after Lumis put Miz to sleep, Gritty attacked him and left.[30] Gritty appeared in season sixteen of
FX's Philadelphia-set sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia in episode five, "Celebrity Booze: The Ultimate Cash Grab". The episode premiered on June 28, 2023.[31] Gritty appeared in the Albie's Elevator episode: "Big Orange Fuzzy Thing".[32] Gritty will appear on the Philadelphia-set finale of the
thirty-sixth season of the
CBS reality competition show The Amazing Race.[33]
Episode: "Celebrity Booze: The Ultimate Cash Grab"[31]
Reception
Observers brought attention to his appearance, which could be construed as frightening,[4][15] while The Guardian described him as an "
acid trip of a mascot."[34] Response to Gritty's introduction was immediate and sharply mixed, with many fans on social media expressing bewilderment and some fright at his appearance.[35] Public perception of Gritty became increasingly positive as Gritty's antics, which subverted the cuddly, family-friendly appearance and demeanor of other NHL mascots, gained more attention on social media.[17] Gritty was lampooned on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and Saturday Night Live.[36][37]
Philadelphia residents embraced Gritty shortly after his debut as representing the city's rough and tumble character.[38][39] The
Philadelphia City Council passed a formal resolution in 2018 honoring Gritty, declaring that he honored the city's spirit and passion.[8][40] Within two months, the mascot amassed almost 200,000
Twitter followers.[7] Gritty was the top league mascot in a 2019 vote of the
NHL Players' Association.[41]
Gritty was employed as a
leftist icon, as activists identified with the mascot's "cheerful, unkempt, maniacal demeanor",[8] and googly-eyed,
anarchic mirth. Gritty appeared on a Philadelphia
anti-Trump protest banner a week after his debut and was spread through leftist online forums and
Internet meme groups,[39] which depicted Gritty with themes of
anti-capitalism,
socialism, and
anti-fascism.[8][42][43] Philadelphia City Council member
Helen Gym described the Trump vs. Gritty phenomenon as "one orange horror has been met with another."[44] When Philadelphia played an important role in determining the
2020 United States presidential election, social media users depicted Gritty, as the city personified, defeating outgoing incumbent
Donald Trump, which included appropriating Trump's statement that "Bad things happen in Philadelphia!".[45][46][47]