16 Facts About Gritty

Gritty is the official mascot for the Philadelphia Flyers National Hockey League team.

Gritty has been compared to the Phillie Phanatic, the mascot for the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team.

Gritty was created by Brian Allen of Flyland Designs with help from David Raymond, the first man to portray the Phillie Phanatic.

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.

The Flyers organization wanted Gritty to have a rather intimidating appearance, as "someone you'd high-five but not hug" according to Allen.

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Gritty made his debut on September 24,2018, and appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon several days later.

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.

On February 3,2020, the Flyers employee portraying Gritty was officially cleared of any wrongdoing and charges were declined to be filed following an investigation conducted by the South Detectives Division of the Philadelphia Police Department.

Gritty introduced the Philadelphia Fusion during 2019 and 2020 home-stand matches.

Gritty appeared in the season premiere of ABC's Philadelphia-set sitcom Abbott Elementary in the season two premiere, "Development Day".

Gritty made an professional wrestling appearance at WWE's Extreme Rules event held on October 8,2022 showing getting beaten by The Miz backstage who was looking for Dexter Lumis.

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.

Gritty was lampooned on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and Saturday Night Live.

Gritty was the top league mascot in a 2019 vote of the NHL Players' Association.

Gritty was reappropriated as a leftist icon, as activists identified with the mascot's "cheerful, unkempt, maniacal demeanor", 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, which depicted Gritty with themes of anti-capitalism, socialism, and anti-fascism.