Go to any Georgia State basketball or football game and you will almost certainly see the biggest fan of the Panthers – Daniel Wilson or, as you know him, The Blue Man.

This masked man, covered from head to toe in a blue morph suit, is always full of Panther pride.

No matter what the results are, he’s guaranteed to be back to any football or basketball home game to cheer on.

Blue Man made his debut in the final game of the 2012 football season in the game against Old Dominion, Bill Curry’s final game.

“As you know, we lost that game, but a lot of pictures were taken and a lot of people liked it,” Wilson said about his debut.

Wilson said that the idea for Blue Man stemmed from a couple of events.

“I was going to get a costume for my sister’s Holloween party and I noticed morph suits. So I decided to get one and I chose blue. When I was purchasing it, they did mention how they’re nonreturnable,” Wilson said. “I had gone to a football game and when I got back my brother thought I was going to wear it to the game, but I didn’t. He kind of gave me the idea, so the next week I went to the ODU game and there it was.”

Daniel Wilson, who turns 22 on Sept. 18, said it was a wait-and-see moment on how people liked the suit to decide whether or not to continue wearing it.

He tried it out the following day at the basketball exhibition game against Albany State and received a positive reaction.

From then on, Blue Man was established.

The costume evolved over time from the blue morph suit to more clothes and accessories.

“Last year for a few games I went without pants,” Wilson said. “No one really made me put the pants on, [but] I could sense that it was a little displeasing to some people.”

Now, flannel Georgia State pants and blue Georgia State shorts are an alternating part of Blue Man’s wardrobe.

Wilson also added a sky high, blue mowhawk to complement his suit for the 2013 football season opener.

“I have trouble keeping it on. I can’t really bob my head as much as I used to, but I’m still going to wear it…because the football team at least played harder in the Samford game,” Wilson said.

No matter the result, a victory or a blowout, Wilson does everything he can to make it to the next home game even though he has to commute from Kennesaw to get there.

“I guess it’s ‘cause of the mindset that someone’s got to do it,” Wilson said of what keeps him motivated to continuously attend.“I’m doing this for my school [and] for the team.”

“Every college program would love to have thousands of Blue Man,” said Jerry Trickie, associate athletic director of communications. “While he hopes to see a win at every game — he is going to support the Panthers no matter the outcome and will continue to come back.”

Fans and attendees of Georgia State Athletics events have seen Blue Man and admire his undying support for the Panthers.

“It’s always good to have a good student section and he does a great job in representing,” freshman student Anuj Patel said. “The fact that [Blue Man] stands up the entire game, whether it’s third-and-long or first and goal, he always stands up and does his thing,” he added.

Transfer student Reid Atherton finds Blue Man unique to Georgia State in how he is a one-man-show.

“There usually isn’t one person who paints up, it’s a group of people that paint up, and that’s what’s unique about Blue Man – he’s one person,” Atherton said. “He doesn’t care about having a group of people be blue men, he is the Blue Man.”

Daniel Wilson is a senior film and video major with a minor in journalism and is expected to graduate next year.

He says he would like to continue being Blue Man after his graduation, but he’s not sure where life will take him.

Wilson said he hopes someone steps up and assumes the role of Blue Man, or any sort of spirit group for the Panthers, if he leaves.

“As long as he or she is as into Georgia State Athletics as I am, I’m good.”

Q&A with The Blue Man

How well do you see?
“There is a blue tint to it. Occasionally, though, it’s me without my contacts in at long distances…Against Samford I had a hard time following the plays at first.”

How do you use the restroom in the suit?
“Take the whole thing off, at least the upper body, because the only zipper on it is from the head down to the back. And so I just have to unzip it, find a stall, lock it and take it off.”

What do you wear underneath the suit?
“Usually just my boxers, that’s it.”

Does anybody know what Blue Man looks like without the suit?
“The people of GSU Athletics have seen me without my mask on, but my fellow fans who go to games, no.”

 

Photo Credit: ANDRES CRUZ-WELLMANN | THE SIGNAL