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Big Nasty!

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Story by Jeffrey Neil Fox,Bucs & Bulls Heaven

Published: October 8, 2007

Keith Kunzig, a. k. a. Big Nasty, is a financial planner for Morgan Stanley and an independent fan mascot for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on game days. One of Kunzig's proudest moments was when his character Big Nasty was inducted into the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, in 2001.

Ever since he was a little boy, he promised his mother that he would be in the football Hall of Fame. He didn't make it as a player, but he now has his place in the shrine as a fan. He said he made his deceased mother proud
(she, too, was a fanatical football fan), when he looked up to the heavens and said, "This is for you, Mom," on induction day.

Big Nasty has become an international icon during the past two decades and is a fan favorite. People stand in line to have their picture taken with him.

It takes Kunzig more than an hour to transform himself from a conservative professional to a wild, painted-up fan mascot. He's the guy wearing black lipstick, a rhino horn on his head and a mile-long tongue. If you believe in the 12th "fan" philosophy, the support for the players on the field begins with the head of the Pewter Nation, Big Nasty.

Nasty always has his game face on and you can hear him in the stands front and center rooting for his Pewter Pirates. The television cameras often zoom in on Big Nasty during game broadcasts.

The famous Washington Redskins Hoggets fan mascots had a dramatic influence on Big Nasty. When he found that these over-the-top fans generated millions for charities, he decided that he had to follow suit.

Big Nasty has helped to draw attention and raise money for many charities, including Locks of Love, March of Dimes, Children's Dream Fund, the Kidney Foundation and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, to name a few. One of Big Nasty's favorite pastimes is visiting sick children in hospitals and putting smiles on their faces.

Big Nasty reached celebrity status when the Bucs went to San Diego and squared off against the Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII in January 2003.

Another proud moment for Big Nasty was when the Bucs returned to Tampa with the coveted Vince Lombardi trophy. He's hoping the Bucs make a return visit to the Super Bowl at the end of this season.

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