Captain Aggie still believes
Andy K. Pederson: Some know him as the Aggie Pope, the legendary student-section icon, the Forever Aggie, but his true identity is Captain Aggie.
A true blue Aggie fan, a defender of the disabled and an advocate for life, Captain Aggie, has been an inspiration Utah State students for 26 years.
“I never liked to play games, but I’ve always liked to watch them,” Pederson said. “I’d like to play football, but I was too small, so I came up here, and that’s what you do on Saturdays.”
With a heart full of service he will tell anyone how great his life has been thanks to his experiences in Logan, Utah. An Aggie for 47 years, his passion for sports matches his passion for life.
“Captain Aggie started as a hat,” Pederson said. “Kevin Day (an acquaintance of Pederson) walks up to me and says how are you doing, captain? I was wearing the suit, but I still didn’t have an identity, and that’s where it started.”
Captain Aggie was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease a few years back and has been battling it ever since. He doesn’t let it get him down or even keep him in his house. The captain refuses to let his unfortunate disease confine him from doing the things he loves.
“I am a fighter for people with disabilities,” Pederson said. “I’ve learned that these people have as much of a right to go to the games and have a good seat as anybody else and not have to be hassled or wisecracked. I’ve seen improvement, talked with these people and asked if they wanted to get it fixed, and if they don’t want to fix it, I will.”
Dedication is a word that crosses students’ minds when Captain Aggie is in attendance.
“I’ve learned to function with my disease. If my right arm doesn’t work, I use my left arm. If my arms don’t work, I use my feet, and if those don’t work, I crawl,” Pederson said. “When I get to the stadium, I crawl, so I scoot down on my butt to get to my seat, and then hopefully they’ll open up the gate, so I can get out on the field and not have to go up the stairs again.”
According to Dallin Laird, the USUSA athletics and campus rec vice president, Captain Aggie brings energy and excitement to the games.
“Out of nowhere he started doing pushups,” said Laird, remembering a recent basketball game. “He doesn’t do like five or six. He does like 30 or 40. I wish there were a lot more of him — older alumni being more a part of the game, standing up and cheering like he does.”
One thing that keeps Captain Aggie going is the support that he receives from the students and the athletes at Utah State.
“Seeing the passion that Captain Aggie has for sports fired me up,” said Matt Clegg, a sophomore majoring in biological engineering. “I was humbled by his passion.”
The captain has a love for all the players and students at USU and holds them in high esteem.
“Some kid from Cal State Fullerton came over and was going to beat me up,” Pederson said. “But the Aggies tripped him, knocked him out and the security guards picked him up and took him away. I found out the next day that he was expelled from school, and he had 30 days in jail. I thought that was funny, I knew the Aggies would stick up for me, and I appreciated that.”
Laird said Captain Aggie loves sitting with the student section and doing his chant. Everybody knows him and participates.
“I was impressed that a man his age was doing that stuff,” said Taylor Holbrook, a freshman majoring in English.
As such a big fan, Captain Aggie shows how much he appreciates what USU sports have done and continue to do for him.
“Every game that I go to adds a week to my life,” Pederson said.
He loves the sports but especially loves the students. He is always at the games for them and really wants the best for each and every one. He offers every Aggie student a word of advice.
“We need to keep our language somewhat clean,” the captain said. “I hear the most complaints about Utah State’s vulgarity, especially the F-word. We don’t need to have that.”
Pederson is somewhat of a superhero in Logan as he sets an example, touching many peoples’ lives.
“I think Captain Aggie unites the student section, Aggies from the past and Aggies of the present,” Clegg said.
Members of the student body cheer on the captain as he continues to support his team.
“He just never stops. He keeps going,”Laird said. “The aspect that he is always standing and cheering for the Aggies no matter what, that’s definitely my aspiration, something that I will do no matter what.”
Captain Aggie counsels students not to take life for granted.
“Do what you want to do now. If you meet a girl, ask her out,” the captain said. “Don’t say, ‘I’ll go to the game next week.’ There may not be a game. You never know what is going to happen. Live every day you can as best you can and get as much life out of every day as you can ’cause you don’t know; you may die tomorrow. If you’re an Aggie and you have those student tickets to the games, go to every one.”
Clegg, Holbrook and Laird share the common hope that the captain won’t stop inspiring the student section.
“I feel that Captain Aggie gives as much as he can to the Aggies,” Pederson said. “I’m not Captain Andy, I’m Captain Aggie.”
For more information about Captain Aggie, contact him on Twitter @captainaggie1.
— crowther.wade@gmail.com
Twitter: @CrowtherWade