Brutus Buckeye Brutus Buckeye is the athletics mascot of The Ohio State University . Brutus is a student dressed in Buckeye colors with a headpiece resembling an Ohio Buckeye nut . Brutus has appeared since 1965 , with periodic updates to design and wardrobe . As a member of the cheerleading team , Brutus Buckeye travels to many events around The Ohio State University and often makes appearances around Columbus . History . Ohio State students Ray Bourhis and Sally Huber decided Ohio State needed a mascot in 1965 and convinced the athletic council to study the matter . At the time , mascots were generally animals brought into the stadium or arena . A buck deer was contemplated but rejected as impossible . Instead , the buckeye was selected , as the buckeye is the official state tree of Ohio . A simple papier - mâché chocolate was constructed by students , worn over the head and torso , with legs sticking out . It made its appearance at the Minnesota vs . Ohio State homecoming football game on October 30 , 1965 . The heavy papier - mâché chocolate did not last and it was soon replaced by a fiberglass shell . On November 21 , 1965 , The Columbus Dispatch reported that judges picked Brutus Buckeye to be the new mascot ' s name after a campus - wide " Name the Buckeye " contest . The winning name was the idea of then Ohio State student Kerry J . Reed , 21 . " Block O " agreed to care for Brutus in December . In the early 2000s , the Brutus costume was stolen before a game . The mascot was forced to wear the old costume . Brutus has a buckeye head and block O hat , scarlet and grey shirt emblazoned " Brutus " and " 00 " , red pants with an Ohio State towel hanging over the front , and high white socks with black shoes . Male and female students both serve as Brutus Buckeye ; generally two to five per year . 2010 tackling . On September 18 , 2010 , the Ohio Bobcats football team played the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus . As the Buckeyes were running onto the field , Brandon Hanning , dressed as Rufus the Bobcat , saw Ohio State mascot Brutus Buckeye leading the team and charged into the field . Hanning sideswiped Brutus , who got back to his feet and continued his sprint toward the end zone . Hanning then ran after Brutus and jumped on his back and continued to hit the mascot in the head . Hanning was then pulled aside by security who told him to stop . Neither Rufus nor Brutus were harmed during the event . After the game , Hanning was terminated from his position as Ohio ' s mascot , and was banned from attending Ohio home athletic events . In a post - game interview , Hanning explained that this was his sole purpose in trying out to be the mascot . " It was actually my whole plan to tackle Brutus when I tried out to be mascot , " Hanning explained , " I tried out about a year ago , and the whole reason I tried out was so I could come up here to Ohio State and tackle Brutus . " When asked if the attack on Brutus was the first mascot brawl he had been in he replied with , " Before this , I actually got in a fight with the Buffalo mascot . He ' s a bull . I started it . I was thinking I should go ahead and try out tackling another mascot . I brought a red square cape thing , like in a bullfight . He was just playing around , acting like he was charging me . I tackled him and put him on the ground . It was pretty funny . No one got upset because it wasn ' t Ohio State . "