12 things to know about Rice Athletics

By Andersen Pickard and Evie Vu     8/26/25 9:02pm

1. The Owls are members of the American Conference, previously called the American Athletic Conference. The football program competes within the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. Across campus, over 500 student-athletes currently compete in 14 varsity sports, with the 15th sport—women’s golf—to play its inaugural season in Fall 2026. 
2. Our mascot, Sammy, got his name from a 1917 heist. At the time, Rice had a large canvas owl on campus, and one day, students from Texas A&M University kidnapped the owl. Naturally, Rice students pooled their money together and hired a detective to locate the mascot on Texas A&M’s campus. The detective found it and sent a coded telegram to Houston: "Sammy is fairly well and would like to see his parents at eleven o'clock.” While “Sammy” was merely a code word at the time, the name stuck and continues to be the mascot’s moniker over a century later.
3. When the school was still the Rice Institute, yell leaders Louis Girard ‘41 and Nealie Ross ‘41 penned the Institute’s fight song to promote the football team. Their lyrics live on, projected and sung at every home athletic event. The final line, unlike the others, is yelled. For the secret, non-admin-friendly lyrics, consult an upperclassman.

Fight for Rice, Rice fight on, loyal sons arise.

The Blue and Gray for Rice today, comes breaking through skies.

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Fight, fight, fight!

Stand and cheer, Vict'ry's near, Sammy leads the way.

Onward go! to crush the foe, we'll fight for Blue and Gray.

(Rice Fight Never Dies! Stand & Cheer / Vict'ry's near - Let's Go Rice!)

1. Our slogan, “Rice Fight Never Dies,” is nearly as old as the university itself, according to Gus Kranz’s 1927 Thresher article. Kranz, in an attempt to rally the student body toward maintaining the fighting school spirit, wrote, "The eyes of many an outsider are upon us. They are waiting to see whether or not we will continue to support that team. Well bunch, let's show them that win or lose - Rice Fight Never Dies!" A quick translation: forget the doubters, naysayers and haters; go Rice!
2. The Rice University Marching Owl Band (MOB) does not actually march. Instead, they scramble into different formations while poking fun at opponents, playing good music and, of course, supporting the football team. Their three-piece suits and quirky accessories have become hallmarks of a Rice gameday.
3. Rice has a long, storied history of athletic success. The football program is 3-0 against the esteemed University of Alabama, including a victory over the Crimson Tide in the 1954 Cotton Bowl. Meanwhile, our baseball program was previously a national powerhouse and won the College World Series in 2003.
4. John Heisman, the namesake of the prestigious NCAA football Heisman Trophy, coached for Rice while simultaneously serving as the university’s Director of Athletics. He went 14-18-3 while coaching the Owls from 1924 until his retirement in 1927. 
5. Rice rostered the shortest player in college football history. Jayson Carter was a 4-foot-9 running back who appeared in three games between 2013 and 2014. He finished his NCAA career with two carries for three yards.
6. Rice Stadium hosted Super Bowl VIII in 1974. It was the first non-NFL stadium to host a Super Bowl. Additionally, John F. Kennedy delivered his famous “We Choose to Go to the Moon” speech there. 
7. Autry Court at Tudor Fieldhouse is home to the “Autry Army,” a group of students whose primary objective is to heckle opponents. Their efforts have not gone unnoticed; legendary men’s basketball coach John Calipari once described them as the “Blue Army of Death.” 
8. Many former Rice student-athletes have advanced to play professional sports. Some of the university’s most prominent athletes include baseball players Lance Berkman and Anthony Rendon, football players Tommy Kramer and Chris Boswell and basketball players Ricky Pierce and Trey Murphy III.
9. A tutorial on the Rice Owls hand sign:

Step 1: Raise your right hand with the palm of your hand facing away from you, as if you are about to give someone a high-five.

Step 2: Repeat Step 1 with your left hand. Now you have two hands in the air in front of your chest. 

Step 3: Slowly rotate both hands so that your fingers face outwards. Think of the hug emoji.

Step 4: Bring your hands together so that the meaty parts of your palms beneath your thumbs just lightly touch each other. 

Step 5: Interlock your left and right thumbs.

Step 6: Admire your Owl! 

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