In 1985 the first physical NAU mascot made his debut. Jim Mansfield, an advisor for cheerleading came up with the idea to have a mascot during athletic events. His design for the mascot was having a student wear a fake beard and walk on stilts making him 9 feet tall. This was mainly because he was paying out of pocket for everything, and it absolutely looked that way. He said he had to beg, borrow, and steal to put this mascot together. He felt it was time NAU had someone hyping people up at the games. This mascot made his first appearance during a NAU football game. This is also where students got to vote what name they wanted the mascot to have, and the name Bad Axe was elected.