Some of Auburn’s greatest heroes in sports aren’t necessarily the athletes. For anyone who regularly attends baseball or softball games, they know the Helmet Guy is ever-present, leading cheers from the bleachers.
What they probably don’t know is that the Helmet Guy is actually a 1974 industrial design Auburn graduate named Mike Cooper.
When Plainsman Park was rebuilt in 1996, Cooper and his wife, Nancy, were invited to a couple of games by the owner of Ander’s Book Store, Ronny Anders, whom he worked for throughout his time at school.
After enjoying watching baseball, the Coopers invested in season tickets.
At the games, sponsors would throw small prizes into the crowd as they do now, and, in 2001, one of those giveaways was a baseball helmet — the same one Cooper wears today.
“Me and another guy started wearing the helmets and then we got excited,” Cooper said. “I started getting up and leading cheers and getting people involved in baseball.”
A member of the Auburn Lion’s Club, Andy White said he knows the Helmet Guy through working mostly baseball games for seven years.
“He gets out there and stands up and starts doing the cheers, and everybody follows him,” White said. “He’s been doing it for years. He kind of took it on himself and everyone knows him for bringing more to the games.”
Back then, the two were called the “Helmet Mafia,” and the tradition stuck, until the other fan decided he no longer wanted to lead cheers.
“He got kind of embarrassed about it,” Cooper said. “So I just kept wearing the helmet, and I would just get excited about different parts of the game.”
Cooper said a good play would happen every once in a while while he was doing cheers, so the fans started to think he was magic.
“I don’t know if it looked like I had done something because I had not done anything,” Cooper said. “People would come up to me and say, ‘Man, you got them all excited about (the game). Boy, that helped out.’”
To Cooper, cheering at baseball games and bringing excitement to the field as a 67-year-old makes him feel younger, especially at a sport he loves.
Unfortunately, the Helmet Guy runs into problems attending softball since baseball usually plays at the same time.
“We kinda stole him from baseball,” said Sydne Waldrop, outfielder for the softball team. “Baseball games are quiet, but ours are loud and intense.”
Waldrop also holds the position of “Head Weagle” for leading her team’s cheers in the dugout and said the Helmet Guy helps her out a lot by pushing the crowd to join in.
“It’s always good to have extra cheerleaders,” Waldrop said. “He’s definitely a great aspect if we can keep him around.”
Cooper and his wife were able to catch the tail end of the Tennessee series in the beginning of April, and although he admits his wife gets embarrassed of him, she couldn’t help jumping up and leading a cheer.
“I just jumped up and started hollering, ‘War Eagle,’” Cooper said. “The girls were on base, so I hollered out, ‘Auburn,’ and the crowd hollered back, ‘Tigers,’ and the next thing I knew, I was back into cheering again.”
He recently earned his 15 seconds of fame on ESPN on April 18 in the Alabama series, when he decided to pump up the crowd in the eighth inning for the Tigers by taking his talents to the top of the home dugout.
“I was afraid I would get in trouble, but the usher said, ‘You just get up there and do your thing.’” Cooper said.
But this incident isn’t his only claim to fame. In 1974, Cooper was photographed during a streaking raid in The War Eagle Reader. Although he wasn’t naked, he is in plain sight in front of a naked female running through Auburn.
“I’m the one with Auburn across my chest with his eyes big,” Cooper said.
Cooper has recently retired from 35 years at EPSCom Signing Group and said he hopes he can make it to more baseball and softball games with his new free time. He also serves on Clinton County’s Auburn alumni board, where he participates in a campaign called “Unsung Hero,” who will be honoring Malcolm Canada on April 28. The Helmet Guy even designed the trophy for Canada.
The Helmet Guy looks to continue his tradition through his creation of different cheers when he eventually decides to call it quits. One he said has recently caught on is fans putting their arms up to form an “A” and then a “U” while shouting “AU” at the same time.
Cooper wants Auburn to increase the amount of cheers for baseball and softball, including chants for specific plays to make the experience more special.
“(I want people to say) that’s Auburn, that’s the Auburn Family,” Cooper said.
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