The Scouts’ victory last Friday night against the Warren Blue Devils means the infamous mohawks are sticking around for another week.
For the last 19 years, varsity football players debut their mohawks before the first game. The tradition holds that players will keep their mohawks until they lose their first game.
It all started when an group of 10 players cut their hair in 2005. Mike Korpai, #67 on the field, was a part of the original group.
“We shaved it the Friday before the Homecoming game and dance. Some guys had to go bald because their mohawks were so bad,” Korpai said.
There was no intention of the mohawks becoming a tradition. The actual idea for the mohawks was sparked from Chuck Liddle.
“Chuck Liddle was a UFC fighter back then who was a badass. He had a mohawk and a Fu ManChu [a supervillain in a book who has a certain type of mustache]. We thought it would be sick if we all did it,” Korpai said.
The Thursday night before the first football game of the season, the team gets together to shave the mohawks. The seniors in each position group shave the underclassmen’s heads.
The notorious “mohawk night,” which is voluntary, is highly anticipated for all members of the Varsity Football team.
“It’s one of my favorite nights of the year, and players love to be able to go to someone’s house to spend an hour or two with the teams getting mohawks,” senior Captain Finn Goodman said. “Some are more tame than others, but everyone loves to be able to participate in the team’s tradition.”
For many players, it’s a bonding experience.
“I think it’s beyond just cutting hair. It shows that we’re a team and go through everything as one,” sophomore Jack Burger said.
Recently, the tradition has evolved into something different. For some, the mohawks have changed into more embarrassing hair cuts, such as the reverse mohawk, checker board, and the headphones.
The change doesn’t impress coach Dylan Johnson, an original mohawk recipient said.
“I hate the new cuts; I think they’re the worst thing ever,” he said. “The mohawk was good because everyone had the same haircut…it was a teamwide thing whether or not you wanted to do it.”
Still, the mohawks have made their mark on the football program as a sign of “camaraderie,” according to Varsity Football Coach David Glynn.
Alumni are surprised that something fun they decided to do before their football game nearly 20 years ago has become the tradition it is today.
“It’s funny that something we just randomly decided to do has stuck around. The cool part is that everyone in the program, whether they get a haircut or not, is a part of that bond of LF Football,” original mohawk participant Cort Bauer said. “Never thought we’d be talking about it 20 years later but it’s pretty cool they still do it.”
As the Varsity Football players walk around with their mohawks, they are constantly reminded of their teamwork and passion for the rest of their season, “one in all in.”
