Matthew Thill is a sophomore who is majoring in Electrical Engineering from Westminster, Colorado. Thill is a well known fan of all UW sports and shows up to every sports game covered in brown and gold, cheering on the Pokes.
Thill’s painted face, cowboy hat and brown & gold overalls has gained him popularity among the crowd at sports games and has helped him make a name for himself among UW athletics.
“I like showing off that I am all for the team. Part of my inspiration was from the Chicago Bears’ Bear Man who goes all out to show support for the Bears,” Matthew Thill said.
“The other is from when Wyoming went against New Mexico last year and there was a guy who famously wore black and white face paint to every game. I thought that if other people are willing to go all out why not give it a shot.”
Thill was not originally going to be a Cowboy, but instead a Colorado State University (CSU) Ram.
“I was going to go to CSU with a ROTC scholarship but that did not end up working out. So I asked myself if I really wanted to go there anyway,” Thill said.
“My best friend from my high school days convinced me to come up here. I have huge family ties to UW and it was nice to have a familiar face. Those were the biggest driving factors in coming to UW.”
Before the football season started, Thill went to the Union store and bought white and gold wax face paint. The first design created was half white half gold paint straight down his face.
Then adding the hat, overalls and the rolled up sleeves on his T-shirt was how his iconic look started, and is the look that in the future would famously create a name for himself at games.
“I never expected to get any attention on social media, mainly because I did not have it before freshman year. Until I got here, I did not have Instagram, Snapchat, any form of social media until three months into the first semester of freshman year,” Thill said.
“Gaining attention on social media and seeing myself on the sports media pages is really cool.”
Thill has not only made it up on sports social media pages, but the jumbotron at both football and basketball games. Thill even made an appearance in the Cowboys basketball pre-game promotional video.
“It is very cool that my effort and dedication is being recognized, and even if it was not being recognized I would still do it regardless as it is something I am passionate about,” Thill said.
“After a long work week, it is nice to just let loose a little bit and go have fun. Going to games is a way for me to do that.”
Now scheduling all of his classwork around games, Thill plans on attending every sports game he can throughout his UW career.
Thill was very shy when he first started going to sports games in his armor, until he started to receive compliments and gained more confidence.
“I was super shy to actually do this in the first place. I asked myself if anybody would care. I didn’t think that my face paint looked that impressive and if people would even pay attention to the manic screaming at the top of his lungs,” Thill said.
“After a few games, I stopped caring because I realized what truly matters is my enjoyment for the game.”
