By Paul Guzzo, University Communications and Marketing
Whether it’s Clark Kent removing his glasses for Lois Lane or Spider-Man pulling off his mask for a best friend, revealing a secret identity is a defining moment for any hero.
For three University of South Florida students – William Thrasher, Sevasthian Flores Mangual and Joseph Cannella – that moment has finally come.
For years, they’ve been hiding in plain sight, using their powers of lifting spirits and energizing crowds as the university’s beloved mascot, Rocky D. Bull.
Only a small circle of friends and family ever knew they were the ones donning the full-body suit and bull mask topped with golden horns.
Now that they’ve graduated, they’re allowed to take off the mask and share what it’s really like to be the face of USF.
William Thrasher unmasked [Photo courtesy of William Thrasher]
And they were certain about the first question in-the-dark friends would pose to them:
“Is it hot?” said Thrasher, a biomedical science major. “That’s always the first question.”
And?
“Of course it is,” Flores Mangual, also a biomedical science major, said with a laugh. “It’s a 15-pound fur suit. It easily hits 100 degrees.”
So, they hydrate constantly, sometimes for days leading up to a big event.
They also predicted the follow-up question:
“Why did you keep it a secret?” said Cannella, a business management major. “It’s part of the job and mystique of the character. When we’re Rocky, we’re Rocky, and not someone wearing a costume. If people know who’s inside, it ruins it.”
Being Rocky is like being a part of a secret society for life. While the three can now reveal their identities, they still refuse to provide certain details about the experience.
For instance, how many students need to wear the costume to fill Rocky’s packed schedule, from every USF athletic competition to campus events?
“Enough,” Flores Mangual said with a sly smile.
Sevasthian Flores and William Thrasher [Photo by Casie Brooke-Lawson]
What does the tryout involve and who makes the final decision?
“I’d never tell,” Thrasher said.
But they would say the Rocky D. Bull decision-makers are not looking for a particular physical skillset.
Flores Mangual can perform flips, but neither of the other two can.
Some have previous cheerleading or theatrical experience, but none of the graduating Rockys did.
“Unless you count when I performed hymns at church,” Flores Mangual said. “That’s a lot different from riling up a crowd at a football game.”
However, costumed as Rocky, each instantly embodies the mascot’s charm.
“Whether at a football game in front of tens of thousands or a campus event with a few hundred,” Cannella said, “we are there to make people smile and feel engaged with the event.”
But perhaps the most important skill? Keeping a secret.
William Thrasher and Joseph Cannella [Photo courtesy of Joseph Cannella]
They tended to tell the people with whom they spend the most time — eventually they just run out of excuses for where they've been.
Trust was everything.
“You had to be sure they wouldn’t spill it, especially online,” Flores Mangual said.
It was tough staying quiet when his Rocky’s antics hit social media, Thrasher said. “You want to scream, ‘That was me,’ but you can’t. So, what I’d do is make it my social media story or post something like, ‘Look at Rocky,’ and the people who know, know.”
A few sharp-eyed friends managed to get Thrasher to admit the truth. They'd spot him on the football sidelines during his break, and then observe he always vanished right before Rocky reappeared.
“At some point,” he said, “they’d notice that they never saw me and Rocky in the same place at the same time on the sideline.”
On one occasion, he came clean to such a friend by shuffling through their social media photos and pointing to one with Rocky.
“‘That’s me,’ I told them,” Thrasher said. “They did not know that they’d taken a picture with me until then.”
None of the graduates came to USF with the dream of becoming Rocky.
Joseph Cannella as Publixaurus [Photo courtesy of Joseph Cannella]
As a freshman, Thrasher applied on a dare when a friend noticed a flyer with a photo of the mascot and the question, “Do you want to be me?”
“One thing led to another, and within a couple of weeks, I was standing on the football field in the suit,” he said.
A few weeks after that, when he heard the team needed another Rocky, Thrasher suggested his friend Flores Mangual.
“I wasn’t too sure it was for me,” Flores Mangual said. “But he told me that no one would know it was me. So, I gave it a try and had a lot of fun.”
Cannella, the newcomer of the graduating Rockys, was discovered less than a year ago.
Rocky appeared at the Publix where Cannella worked. The manager needed an employee to serve as the Publix dinosaur mascot, Plato the Publixaurus, and chose Cannella.
“I think my manager was playing a joke on me,” Cannella said. “But I interacted well with Rocky, and they suggested I join the team.”
Flores Mangual’s personal highlight was last season’s Hawaii Bowl victory.
“It went five overtimes,” he said. “That was excruciating, but fun.”
Thrasher’s was being selected for last season’s away football game against Alabama.
“As a diehard college football fan, that was a dream come true,” he said.
USF President Rhea Law flanked by graduating Rockys - Sevasthian Flores Mangual and William Thrasher [Photo by Casie Brooke-Lawson]
Cannella’s favorite memory is of a particular family at a men’s basketball game last season.
“The parents looked stressed, and the kids had frowns,” he said. “So, I walked over and made them smile and they were happy for the rest of the game.”
Now that they’ve completed their mascot journey, the three have advice for future Rockys: Have fun with it because, like any great hero, once the mask comes off, what’s left behind is the impact and the memories etched in high-fives, halftime dances and joyful crowd roars.
“Just do everything you can with the most joy you can,” Thrasher said. “You’re there to make people smile. That’s an amazing job to have.”