Floyd of Rosedale. Not just some trophy that Iowa and Minnesota battle for in a football game every year, but a real-life, once-living pig that will soon be memorialized in a big way in his hometown of Fort Dodge, Iowa.

That thing looks super cool, right? The Fort Dodge Messenger says it's a steel sculpture that will roll into town today (July 20) and be placed at 10th Avenue North and 32nd Street, near the original Rosedale farm where Floyd lived.

Work began in 2019 on the 14-foot tall and 15-foot long massive sculpture, a giant replica of the trophy up for grabs when Iowa plays Minnesota again in November, with all the $125,000 in costs coming through donations and fundraising...no taxpayer money.

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The Floyd of Rosedale trophy tradition, according to the Messenger, has been part of the Hawkeye-Gopher gridiron rivalry since 1934, when, unfortunately, Ozzie Simmons of Iowa became the subject of a threat for some extra harsh treatment on the field for being one of the few black players in college sports at the time. The next year, Iowa fans threatened action of their own if the refs didn't take it themselves.

After what turned out to be a friendly game, the governor of Minnesota, named Floyd Olson, had to pay his debt on a bet to Iowa governor Clyde Herrig in the form of a live pig, which was used to lighten the tension between players and between fans in light of the threats toward Simmons, and the pig was named Floyd in the governor's honor.

The rivalry has remained a serious one over the years but, thankfully, only in the sense of the standings and scoreboard. We're glad to see the "prize" of the annual contest being commemorated in such a memorable way here in Iowa.

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