Big Joe () is the mascot of the

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) (Canadian French, French: ) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL). The mascot was introduced in February 2014, prior to the

2014 CFL season The 2014 CFL season was the 61st season of modern-day Canadian football. It was the 57th Canadian Football League season. Vancouver hosted the 102nd Grey Cup on November 30. The league expanded to nine teams with the addition of the Ottawa Red ...

. The Redblacks launched a contest to provide a name to the mascot. When originally named Big Joe Mufferaw, Redblacks owner

Jeff Hunt Jeff Hunt (born April 17, 1964) is a Canadian businessman who is a past co-owner (through the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group) of the Ottawa Redblacks football club of the Canadian Football League and the Ottawa 67's hockey club of the ...

stated, "We heard that fans loved the look of our mascot and hundreds said he had to be Big Joe Mufferaw. We like that name too because it reminds us of our city's past and fits so well into the branding of our football team." The name was a reference to

French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...

folk hero A folk hero or national hero is a type of hero – real, fictional or mythology, mythological – with their name, personality and deeds embedded in the popular consciousness of a people, mentioned frequently in Folk music, folk songs, folk tales ...

, Big Joe Mufferaw, who is based on real-life Joseph Montferrand (French:

Jos Montferrand Joseph "Jos" Montferrand (; born Joseph Favre ; October 25, 1802 – October 4, 1864) was a French-Canadian logger, strongman, and folk hero of the working man and was the inspiration for the legendary Ottawa Valley figure Big Joe Mufferaw. L ...

), who is often credited as a lumberjack from the Ottawa Valley. However, the name caused controversy and divided opinions, as some considered it offensive to Montferrand's surname. Criticisms of the name arose, as some fans claimed the "Mufferaw" took away from the "Frenchness" of Montferrand, and alienated French-Canadians. Due to the controversy, "Mufferaw" was dropped from the mascot's name. The name change was praised, and was seen as both a possible way of building the team's fanbase, as well as a way of discussing French-Canadian history.

References

{{Ottawa RedBlacks Canadian Football League mascots Fictional characters from Ontario Fictional lumberjacks Mascots introduced in 2014 Ottawa Redblacks