This story expands on “‘From Sparti and His Spear to Pete and His Pistol,” a WyoHistory.org article by University Archivist John Waggener that tells the story of the first Pistol Pete mascot, Don Bogdan.
When Don Bogdan handed his San Jose State roommate a drum at a football game in 1967, he had no idea he was launching one of the most unique careers in sports entertainment history.
George Henderson, who would become known worldwide as “Krazy George,” credits Bogdan with transforming his path. “My whole life would have never changed without Don Bogdan,” Henderson recalled in a 2023 oral history interview. “He put me on a whole other track that I never knew.” That track would lead Henderson to become forever associated with one of the most recognizable stadium traditions in the world: the Wave.
Henderson’s journey from accidental cheerleader to professional sports icon began simply. Bogdan, already an enthusiastic San Jose State fan, brought a drum and bugle to a football game and convinced his roommate to join him. “I couldn’t play the bugle—that takes talent,” Henderson remembered. “So he handed me the drum. I would hit it once in a while.”…