What are the qualities that make a great mascot?
The mascot has to be a memorable, brand-aligned design that is an engaging, larger-than-life personality.
It has to connect with audiences through exaggerated, expressive body language and movements, creating a fun, consistent, and unifying symbol for a team or organization.
At Fitchburg State University, the ultra-popular “Freddy T. Falcon” mascot encompasses those qualities and a whole lot more.
And to think, thanks to alumnus, mascot creator, and future professional mascot Jason Polonsky ‘02 ‘04, the Fitchburg State Falcon has soared to new heights from its inception of “Falcor” way back in 2004 at then Fitchburg State College.
Now, the latest version of the mascot – known as Freddy – has transformed into a state-of-the-art fit.
The newly designed Freddy the Falcon costume has a defined athletic build with broad shoulders and elongated wings. His head is custom crafted and produced with a sharp yellow beak, large expressive eyes, and a friendly smile that makes him appear strong yet approachable. Green fur covers his face and body, adding texture and character. Freddy wears a fitted green and yellow uniform with the number ‘00,’ along with matching shorts and athletic shoes. His appearance combines strength and energy with a welcoming personality, making him both fierce in spirit and friendly to fans.
“The Freddy mascot is our outward facing symbol of the falcon and our connection to students, faculty, staff, and to the greater Fitchburg State community,” Fitchburg State University Executive Director of Athletics & Recreation Matt Burke said. “Social media has taken the role of the mascot to a new level. Freddy was always present at games and special events, but social media really promotes Freddy to a larger audience and makes him a star all on his own.”
A Fitchburg State University mascot star was born and can be traced all the way back to Polonsky, who, as a graduate student, put his mascot idea into action as part of his master’s program thesis – The Importance of a Mascot Program in Higher Education.
Polonsky, 44 – a 2002 Fitchburg State graduate with a bachelor’s in communications and a minor in business administration, and a 2004 graduate with a master’s in communications management – says the practicum portion of his master’s thesis centered around the development of the mascot, building a web site, funding, costume design, name creation and a training manual.
“I still have all the materials,” said Polonsky, who grew up in Peabody, currently resides in Westfield with his wife and two children, and works as a communications consultant with MassMutual.
For the launch of a new program to be successful, Polonsky wanted to put an end to the whole myth of the name Freddy before there was an actual mascot on campus.
“There was no Freddy in reality,” he said. “It was a logo (of a Falcon) on a t-shirt that everybody called Freddy and thought existed.”
So Polonsky reached out to former Fitchburg State professor Dr. John Chetro-Szivos and former President Robert V. Antonucci with his mascot plan and the ask of $10,000 to design and order a custom Falcons costume and bring a mascot to life.
“I told (Chetro-Szivos) that we’re missing out as a college,” he said. “There’s a business aspect, community aspect, there’s a campus culture aspect and overall excitement in the sports programs. I was confident, ‘We’ve got to do this.’ The president agreed, the department supported it, and the rest is history.”
Jason’s passion for our mascot — from the early days of ‘Falcor’ to the beloved ‘Freddy’ we know today — has always been about building pride and spirit on campus. His forward thinking back in 2004 gave Fitchburg State an enduring symbol of community, energy, and tradition, and it’s incredible to see that same spirit thriving stronger than ever in 2025.
One of the biggest challenges for Polonsky was the naming of the actual mascot. Polonsky said he did a two-week blanket submission, sending forms via snail mail in student mailboxes, and also sat in the cafeteria for lunch and dinner by himself at a voting table to collect submitted names. The top five submitted names would then be brought to a campus-wide vote.
“I was expecting the name Freddy to get submitted 90 percent of the time, but it wasn’t,” Polonsky said. “It barely made the top 5.”
The names “Falcor” and “Victory” were submitted the most, says Polonsky.
“I didn't know this at the time but (Victory) was President Antonucci’s middle name,” said Polonsky. “People loved President Bob. That one caught fire and was the number two submitted name.”
When it came time for the election, the name “Freddy” came in fifth place, said Polonsky.
“I couldn’t explain it,” he said. “Falcor, I didn’t know what it was right away, but it was the dog in The Neverending Story. People didn’t believe me, but in my mind, I wanted Freddy to win, but it didn’t. It was a landslide. We had to abide by the vote.”
While Falcor won the popular vote, Polonsky kept it a secret until the unveiling during the new student orientation at the Rec Center.
“President Bob was on the stage and it was part of his opening,” Polonsky said. “He was addressing the incoming students and I could tell he was excited, ‘Now as we look ahead to a new year and new beginnings at Fitchburg State College, we have a new mascot, debuting for the first time today.’ I came running out and had a football jersey on that I had a custom name bar made for the back that said ‘Falcor.’”
Looking back, Polonsky wishes the unveiling took place in front of current students, but he’s still proud of how Falcor debuted on campus.
“We did it thinking that it would lay the foundation for the future students and get it and recognize the program as they joined the FSC community,” he said. “I think it worked well.”
For his final year at Fitchburg State, Polonsky wore the Falcor mascot suit to events with tremendous pride.
His friend, Craig Leger, took over Falcor duties once he earned his master’s degree.
“I went back a bunch of times and watched (Leger) perform,” said Polonsky, whose student involvement spanned the radio station, working as an orientation leader, tour guide, resident assistant, running the student shuttle van service and active membership in the Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity. “I loved Fitchburg State. It was such an incredible experience for me that I wanted others to love it as much as I did.”
A few years later, Polonsky said, the suit went missing.
“That’s when they had to design the first new suit,” he said.
And Polonsky believes when the new suit was created, that’s when the identity of Falcor vanished for good.
“But there are so many myths about that,” he said.
Polonsky says that the mascot rebranding to the name Freddy was on point, but he still entertains conspiracy theories about the transition.
“I thought that it was probably the right thing, but my mind went to certain people that always wanted it to be Freddy now had, with a new suit, the opportunity for an easy transition,” said Polonsky. “I guess we’ll never know.”
But regardless of the lore of Falcor to Freddy, Polonsky is 100 percent in favor of the new Freddy suit and how the mascot continues to build pride at the university.
“Just keep pumping up excitement,” he said. “Keep branding and keep getting him out there and keep giving them something the community and alumni are proud of. He’s a character that really shows the passion and excitement that Fitchburg brings.
“I always get nostalgic. On Linkedin, I share a post and I sit back and think, ‘Who would have thought that 20 years ago it started with a conversation and a dream? Now this is where it’s at. A pillar in the Fitchburg State experience.”
Falcor set the stage for Polonsky’s passion in the mascot world. He got his start as “Crash” with the South Georgia Waves – a low-A minor league baseball team in Albany, Georgia.
In 2003, Polonsky stole local newspaper headlines as a top-seven finalist for the Boston Celtics mascot, “Lucky.”
“I didn’t get the Celtics gig, but my name got out there,” he said.
He quickly landed in Worcester as “Scatch” and “Pounce” for the Worcester IceCats hockey team at the DCU Center doing public and corporate events. That led to stints as “Canaligator” with the Lowell Spinners and “Fungo” with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats in 2004-05, before an eight-year professional run as “Wally the Green Monster” with the Boston Red Sox, and 11 years as “Blaze” with the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun from 2005-16.
“When I started to meet with people in Boston and in Connecticut, my go to story that differentiated me was that, in addition to being a performer, I built this program at Fitchburg State and they were floored,” Polonsky said. “It got me in the door, and then my performance got me the jobs.
“Looking back, my lifelong goal was to work for the Red Sox,” he said. “To have this mascotting be the thing to get me there and give me the opportunities and the memories that I have, it’s awesome. But, all of this is not possible without Fitchburg.”
Polonsky also has consulted for other in-state colleges for their mascot programs from 2007-10.
“A bit of advice that I got when I first started was be you, but be you times 10,” he said. “You have to move 10 times as fast, 10 times more excited. You can’t just jog up as Jason – in the mascot world we call those Disney characters – versus a mascot performer. All my characters are fast, athletic, a little bit macho, strong – they are everything that I want to be – times 10.
“I think it becomes my alter ego,” he said. “You get to be whoever it is you want to be or who you can be from behind the mask.”
While every mascot costume he’s worn is special in its own way, Polonsky says that Falcor was unique.
“I remember putting Falcor on, and Falcor felt different because it was an achievement. A real milestone.” he said. “It was something I designed and something I built from a notepad to reality.”
There’s been no experience quite like Polonsky’s groundbreaking effort to spearhead Falcor from an idea to an identity on campus.
“I saw this need and had to try,” he said. “I ask myself, ‘Would that have happened after?’ That’s an answer I’d love to hear from people because I don’t know. Years later, would someone have said that we need a mascot? But would it have been launched like I launched it?
“What I did for the college – and I don’t want to sound silly – but I think it’s a little undervalued when looking at the history of the university,” he said.
Regardless, Polonsky’s contributions are truly appreciated and definitely not forgotten.
“Jason’s passion for our mascot — from the early days of ‘Falcor’ to the beloved ‘Freddy’ we know today — has always been about building pride and spirit on campus,” said Fitchburg State University’s Director of Marketing and Integrated Communications, Kelly Norris ‘87, ‘09. “His forward thinking back in 2004 gave Fitchburg State an enduring symbol of community, energy, and tradition, and it’s incredible to see that same spirit thriving stronger than ever in 2025.”
When he hears the name Falcor, Polonsky thinks of “legacy.”
“Falcor, I still credit with really changing the direction of my life,” he said. “I hate to be that dramatic, but knowing that I got to use that as a discussion point for different things that then transpired in the future years landing in two of the major sports leagues in the US, it’s crazy because it was started with a passion project.
“Looking back and knowing what I know now, there’s a lot that I would do differently, but I also feel like the college got there,” he said. “The college learned along the way and basically did what I hope I would have done if given the chance to go back. The iterations to keep the excitement going, the presence in the community, the presence in sports, using it in marketing. It was awesome. I hope it’s never lost that before Freddy, there was Falcor.”