HOF Sponsor Goodyear Creates OSU/USC Mascots From Tires for Cotton Bowl

The Pro Football Hall of Fame is in its second year of sponsorship with Goodyear. A new addition this year is a Gold Jacket presence at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl. Gold Jackets Eric Dickerson and Tony Dorsett will host FanFests, their busts will be on display and they will be introduced on field during the game. Gold Jacket Lynn Swann will be in attendance as he serves as the Athletic Director for USC, who faces off against Ohio State.

Life-size statues of Brutus Buckeye are all over the Ohio State University campus, but the latest one is unlike any of the others.

This one is made entirely out of tires. Goodyear Tires, to be exact.

The statue was commissioned by the Akron-based company specifically for Ohio State's matchup with USC in the Cotton Bowl Classic on Friday. Goodyear, which sponsors the game, also made a tire sculpture of Southern Cal's mascot, Tommy Trojan.

"We received a tremendous response from college football fans last year when we introduced the Wisconsin Badger and the Western Michigan Bronco and we are pleased to again celebrate college football in a way that only Goodyear can," Goodyear executive Seth Klugherz said in a release.

The statues, which will be available for photo ops at Cotton Bowl-related events, took artist Blake McFarland over 375 hours and 400 Goodyear tires to create. Each stands more than six feet tall and weighs between 250-300 pounds.

McFarland, who's also a minor league pitcher in the Toronto Blue Jays organization, told WFAA-TV in Dallas he personally cut all of tires by hand using poultry scissors.

After the game, Goodyear will donate the sculptures to both universities where they will be permanently displayed on their respective campuses.

The No. 5 Buckeyes battle the No. 8 Trojans Friday night at 8:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.