He put the Ramblin’ Reck logo in motion. Now it’s on Georgia Tech helmets.
Shawn Hairston noticed the Purdue Boilermakers redesigned their logo in the mid-1990s.
The locomotive that had once sat still suddenly looked like it was barreling forward.
Hairston, a Georgia Tech graduate, wondered: Why not do the same with the Ramblin’ Reck?
“I’m happy to give Purdue credit for inspiring me to steal their idea,” he said. “I said, ‘Hey, let’s take the Ramblin’ Reck and put it in motion.’”
So Hairston and his friend, Marya Vernon Elrod, created a logo featuring the 1930 Ford Model A Sport Coupe that serves as the official mascot of the student body at Tech. The Reck has led the football team onto the field for every home game at Bobby Dodd Stadium since 1961.
On Saturday against Duke — designated as Reck Day to mark the 65th anniversary of the car’s first football appearance — the Yellow Jackets will wear the logo on their helmets, more than three decades after Hairston first had the idea.
“I was very psyched and happy to see that they felt like it was helmet-worthy,” Hairston, 64, said. “That real estate is expensive, so very gratified they would do that.”
The Reck grew from a Tech tradition that was already decades old. Students had long called their beat-up cars “Wrecks,” turning old automobiles into a part of campus culture and school spirit before the Old Gold and White Model A became the school’s official Wreck.
The Ramblin’ Reck is maintained, mechanically and financially, by students in the Ramblin’ Reck Club. Hairston, a 1983 Tech graduate with a nuclear engineering degree, was a member.
“The car is unique, it’s rare and also the club itself is dedicated to maintaining school spirit,” Hairston said.
“Everything about it is student driven, pun intended.”
Traditionally, images and logos of the Reck depicted a stationary vehicle.
Hairston, drawing from Purdue’s updated, charging locomotive, wanted to add speed and movement. His design featured poles bent back with flapping flags, wheels in motion and horizontal lines, or “velocity vectors,” he said.
Tech quickly agreed to use the logo. The 1995 football team slogan was “Reck and Roll,” and Hairston’s logo appeared on items such as refrigerator schedule magnets. It can now be seen throughout Bobby Dodd Stadium, including on elevator floors, and appeared last year on shirts for the annual Dean Griffin Pi Mile 5K Road Race on campus.
Hairston signed over the trademark rights to Tech and receives no compensation for its use.
“I like to think whatever royalty they get for whatever they sell, I’m helping that in a small way,” Hairston said.
In recent years, the Jackets have employed different uniform and helmet combinations. In addition to the interlocking GT, they’ve worn helmets with a Block T as a throwback logo that originated nearly a century ago. Last season, they wore helmets featuring the mascot Buzz.
“After the success of our Buzz Day and having the Buzz logo on our helmets last year versus Virginia Tech, we began discussions immediately on how we could follow up this year,” a Tech spokesperson said in a statement.
The Reck logo on the helmets “is another way we can honor our past and traditions as we continue to modernize for the future,” the statement said.
Jackets coach Brent Key said he isn’t involved in helmet selection for each game. But the former Tech offensive lineman said he loves Tech’s colors and uniforms and that diversity in appearance is important for his program.
“It creates excitement for our recruits,” he said. “It really does. Recruits like those things, our players like different things each week. If it’s good for that, if it’s good for recruiting, good for fans, players, I’m all for it.”
For Hairston, though, the significance is a little more personal.
“There are all kind of helmet permutations,” he said. “Some are better than others. I’m glad they pulled this off. I’m a little biased, but I think it looks good.”