The mascot for the University of Texas is named Bevo and is a Texas longhorn steer with a burnt orange color. The current mascot is the fourteenth to be named Bevo, and some of them have had interesting lives. The idea to use a longhorn as the mascot was first presented in 1916. Bevo II charged an opposing school’s cheerleader and Bevo III escaped and ran throughout campus for nearly two days before being caught.
The most famous incident concerning Bevo was in 1920. Texas A&M students had branded the cow with “13-0” because they had recently achieved a victory with that score. Around the same time, UT hit a rough financial patch and had to make some tough decisions about where to make cuts. They decided it was too costly to maintain a fully-grown longhorn, so instead had him fattened up, slaughtered, and served at a football banquet.
The A&M players were given the part of the cow that had been branded, which was still visible. Fortunately, the school began making money again and reinstated their beloved Bevo.