{"id":10957,"date":"2024-01-17T08:05:31","date_gmt":"2024-01-17T13:05:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/?p=10957"},"modified":"2024-01-18T13:31:23","modified_gmt":"2024-01-18T18:31:23","slug":"new-merchandise-line-to-benefit-freedom-and-the-wildlife-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/2024\/01\/17\/new-merchandise-line-to-benefit-freedom-and-the-wildlife-center\/","title":{"rendered":"New Merchandise Line to Benefit \u2018Freedom\u2019 and the Wildlife Center"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Georgia Southern has something special for fans of Freedom, the live bald eagle mascot that flies before each home game in what many call the \u201cmost exciting 30 seconds in college football.\u201d The University is launching a new brand and merchandise line that will benefit and honor the beloved mascot. Unable to survive on his own because of an injury to his beak as a <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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newborn, Freedom came to Georgia Southern in 2004 and now lives at the University\u2019s Center for Wildlife Education in Statesboro alongside other eagles, raptors, reptiles and waterfowl. He will celebrate his 20th birthday in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The merchandise is designed to be both inspirational and stylish. The initial offerings include hats, T-shirts, hoodies, posters and postcards. One shirt includes \u201cFreedom\u2019s Ride,\u201d and depicts the eagle perched in the back of a 1977 International Scout often seen around town as it\u2019s owned and driven by handler and Wildlife Center Executive Director Steve Hein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFreedom belongs to Georgia Southern students, faculty, the Statesboro community and all those he encounters,\u201d Hein said. \u201cIt\u2019s natural to want to express a unique relationship spanning 20 years and what better way to do this than by making his image available for people to wear and promote. I\u2019m excited about this program, honored to be his plus-one, and greatly appreciate everyone\u2019s support for Freedom, his care and his future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an ambassador for Georgia Southern and symbol of our nation, Freedom has inspired thousands annually at the Center for Wildlife Education, Georgia Southern football games, the St. Patrick\u2019s Day parade in Savannah, commencements, community events and other appearances, such as at the Charles Swab Classic PGA tour last year in Texas. Freedom merchandise is now available for purchase at Southern Exchange in Statesboro, the University Store on the University\u2019s Armstrong and Statesboro campuses and in the gift shop at the Center for Wildlife Education on the Statesboro Campus. The proceeds will benefit the Wildlife Center and Freedom\u2019s care.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Georgia Southern has something special for fans of Freedom, the live bald eagle mascot that flies before each home game in what many call the \u201cmost exciting 30 seconds in college football.\u201d The University is launching a new brand and merchandise line that will benefit and honor the beloved mascot. Unable to survive on his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":11136,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[86],"class_list":["post-10957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-up-front","tag-fall-2023"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10957\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}