💌 Love Philly? Sign up for the free Billy Penn newsletter to get everything you need to know about Philadelphia, every day.
Philadelphia’s USFL team won’t play in its hometown for at least two years, but the Stars, who kick off their season today as part of the experimental spring football league, found an early way to endear themselves to fans.
The franchise let people vote on what to call the mascot — and actually stuck with the winning answer. Yep, the city’s newest sports icon is named Blob.
It’s a fitting name for the amorphous red creature, which looks like what you’d get if McDonald’s Grimace had a baby with a giant Minion. (Other options were “Astro” and “Cosmo,” both deathly boring). The mischievous expression on Blob’s face falls somewhere between Gritty’s provocative glare and the Phanatic’s gleeful grin. Oh, and it likes to twerk.
Blob’s backstory hasn’t really been fleshed out, but it was described as “out of this world” — like stars, get it? — so it’s obviously an alien of some sort. What really matters: Philly loves it.
Those who recall Gritty’s introduction might remember that all it takes is a few negative statements from outsiders to make a mascot beloved to Philadelphians.
That cycle didn’t even have a chance to play out in this case, thanks to the Stars’ leaning into how ridiculous their mascot was from the start. Even people who aren’t from Philly say their heart lies with Blob.
Only a little more is known about Philadelphia’s actual United States Football League team than its mascot.
Though there’s no official link between them, the Stars’ name matches the Philly team in the previous iteration of the USFL, which played from 1983 to 1985.
Back then, the franchise had a whole collection of mascots, orange fuzzy creatures with red hair that were named North Star, Movie Star, Shooting Star, Star Dipper and Pegasus.
Will the current incarnation last longer than three seasons? It’s led by President Brian Woods, who for the past few years ran the Spring League, described as the closest thing there is to the minors in professional football. Backers say a deal with Fox and NBC to air games is one main difference between this and the twice-failed XFL.
The Philadelphia Stars are one of eight inaugural franchises across two divisions, North and South. Every team will play the entire 10-game season in Birmingham, Alabama, followed by a postseason in Canton, Ohio, with the championship set for mid-June.
USFL North
- Michigan Panthers
- New Jersey Generals
- Philadelphia Stars
- Pittsburgh Maulers
USFL South
- Birmingham Stallions
- Houston Gamblers
- New Orleans Breakers
- Tampa Bay Bandits
Philly makes its debut against the Breakers, which have a truly obnoxious looking mascot called Dave the Wave.
Points on our amorphous chunk to kick ice cream bro’s butt any time.
All hail Blob. Go Stars.
