By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-09-19 12:17:25
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
前马刺队吉祥物“小野狼”的扮演者蒂姆·德克，摄于其圣安东尼奥的家中。他在T恤发射枪的开发中扮演了关键角色，如今这款喷射设备在大多数体育赛事中已随处可见。
1983年4月13日的那个夜晚，蒂姆·德克 (Tim Derk) 发现了自己的“超能力”。
当时，他年仅26岁，是圣安东尼奥乡村俱乐部的一名助理网球教练，同时兼职做商业广告演员。他接到的其中一项任务，将他带到了赫米斯费尔球馆——当时马刺队正在寻找一位吉祥物，来为他们的比赛日增添活力。
有人递给德克一套毛茸茸的演出服和那个如今已成标志的头套——头套上有着一双疯狂的绿色眼睛和一对超大号的耳朵。而裤子，不仅不是必需品，甚至是被严格禁止的。
就在那天，马刺队的吉祥物“小野狼” (Coyote) 诞生了。对于服装里的那个人来说，生活从此彻底改变。
“我原以为这只是个傻乎乎的小兼职，”现年68岁的德克说道，“结果它成了我接下来21年的工作。”
1983年那场对阵洛杉矶湖人队的比赛，是德克作为初代马刺队“小野狼”的首次亮相，此后他一共出场了992次。在2004年因缺血性中风被迫停止表演之前，他还以“小野狼”（学名 Entertainus Carnivorus）的身份参与了超过5000场社区活动。
本周六，在亨利·B·冈萨雷斯会议中心，德克将作为2025届成员，正式入选圣安东尼奥体育名人堂。
与他一同入选的还有：前阿拉莫高地高中篮球教练查理·博格斯 (Charlie Boggess)、前杰斐逊高中及德克萨斯大学排球和田径明星运动员莎伦·诺伊格鲍尔-谢泼德 (Sharon Neugebauer-Shepard)、圣安东尼奥独立学区具有开创性贡献的教练兼管理者维克托·罗德里格斯博士 (Dr. Victor Rodriguez)，以及将作为一个整体入选的1999年NBA总冠军马刺队。
德克是这批入选者中唯一一个穿着从头到脚的犬类服装时，可能更容易被认出来的人。
“这是你做梦都不敢想的事情，”德克说，他将成为首位入驻圣安东尼奥体育名人堂的吉祥物扮演者。“在那个年代，没人会说‘我将来想成为一名吉祥物’。我只是非常幸运，在对的时间出现在了对的地方。”
德克在芝加哥郊区长大，最初是为了在圣三一大学打网球而来到圣安东尼奥。毕业后，德克在乡村俱乐部找到了一份教网球的工作，借此消磨时间，思考自己的下一步职业规划。
表演的天赋始终流淌在他的血液里。孩童时期，德克自称是班级里的小丑，总能引得同学捧腹大笑，换来老师们无奈的白眼。
“我妈妈常说，我出生时，刚一从产床上出来就喊了一声‘当当当当！’ ”德克说道。
为了满足自己对演艺事业的渴望，德克与圣安东尼奥的杰克·皮特鲁克广告公司签约成为一名演员，并开始源源不断地接到商业广告的工作，其中一些甚至接近特技表演。他对一个宝马广告记忆犹新。
“他们需要一个傻到敢站在一辆飞驰的汽车前的演员，”德克说，“那个人就是我。”
前马刺队吉祥物“小野狼”的扮演者蒂姆·德克，摄于其圣安东尼奥的家中。他在T恤发射枪的开发中扮演了关键角色，如今这款喷射设备在大多数体育赛事中已随处可见。
当地的NBA球队是皮特鲁克的另一位客户。当马刺队在1983年春天打来电话，希望从零开始创造一个吉祥物时，皮特鲁克立即联系了德克。
“小野狼”这个概念起初并非一蹴而就。马刺队还曾考虑过“牛仔”（太有达拉斯风格）和“犰狳”（太像在路上被碾过的动物了）。
最终，球队选定了“小野狼”，而在马刺队主场迎战洛杉矶湖人队的比赛开始前几小时，德克迎来了他工作的第一个夜晚。
直到那一刻，他甚至连这套新制作的“小野狼”服装都没试穿过。穿上它的感觉，就像蝙蝠侠第一次爬进蝙蝠车，或是卢克·天行者第一次点亮他的光剑。
“我找到了一个能让我尽情做自己的东西，”德克说。
在结束了二十余年的“小野狼”生涯后，德克入选了吉祥物名人堂，并获得了NBA颁发的终身成就奖。
但他在扮演“小野狼”的第一个夜晚，丝毫没有预示到这一切。
没有剧本，没有指示。
德克在赫米斯费尔球馆的更衣室，是客队更衣室的洗手间。他一屁股坐在小便池旁的地板上，等待着登场。
“我们当时根本不知道它应该是什么样的，”德克谈及他扮演“小野狼”的早期时光时说，“那就像一个全新的领域。”
德克原以为这可能只是一次性的工作，结果却变成了一种生活方式。
随着德克扮演“小野狼”越来越自信，他的表演逐渐成为了马刺队观赛体验中不可或缺的一部分，就像大卫·罗宾逊 (David Robinson) 的扣篮和蒂姆·邓肯 (Tim Duncan) 的打板投篮一样。
有时，“小野狼”在比赛间隙所展现的运动能力，甚至不亚于场上发生的任何精彩瞬间。
和任何优秀的超级英雄一样，德克的真实身份一直是一个被严密守护的秘密。他上班时会把“小野狼”的服装装在一个巨大的黑色赫夫提垃圾袋里，以免引起公众的怀疑。
随着“小野狼”声名鹊起，对手球员和裁判也常常加入到他的表演中。
有一天，费城76人队的明星球员查尔斯·巴克利 (Charles Barkley) 找到德克，提出了一个“小野狼”起初觉得不太靠谱的想法。
“他说，‘要不这样，每次你走到离我3英尺（约0.9米）内，我就给你一拳？’”德克回忆道。
在确定巴克利是认真的之后，德克觉得这个玩笑或许行得通。凭借他那点准特技演员的功底，德克认定自己不仅能承受住这位身高6英尺6英寸（约1米98）、体重250磅（约113公斤）的全明星前锋的一击，还能将其夸张地表现出来，以达到喜剧效果。
那天晚上，德克——以“小野狼”的身份——在比赛的大部分暂停时间里都在挑逗巴克利，并不断缩短距离——从5英尺，到4英尺，再到3英尺半。
第四节末段，德克故意闯入了“危险区域”。巴克利一拳挥了过去，“小野狼”应声飞出。
对于像德克这样的名人堂级表演家来说，最重要的是什么？
“全场观众都沸腾了，”他说。
Tim Derk as the Spurs Coyote, shoots a T-shirt into the stands during a game. Derk appeared at more than 1,110 Spurs games from 1983 to 2004 and was instrumental in the development of the T-shirt cannon, the propulsive device that is now ubiquitous at most sporting events.
The SpursCoyote gets ready to shoot the Gatlin T-shirt gun during game one of the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat in 2014. Former Spurs Coyote Tim Derk, pictured at his home in San Antonio, was instrumental in the development of the T-shirt cannon, the propulsive device that is now ubiquitous at most sporting events.
Former Spurs Coyote Tim Derk, pictured at his home in San Antonio, was instrumental in the development of the T-shirt cannon, the propulsive device that is now ubiquitous at most sporting events.
点击查看原文：Tim Derk, the original Spurs Coyote, was born to perform
Tim Derk, the original Spurs Coyote, was born to perform
Former Spurs Coyote Tim Derk, pictured at his home in San Antonio, was instrumental in the development of the T-shirt cannon, the propulsive device that is now ubiquitous at most sporting events.
On the night April 13, 1983, Tim Derk uncovered his superpower.
He was a 26-year-old assistant tennis pro at San Antonio Country Club at the time, working side gigs as a commercial actor. One of his assignments took him to HemisFair Arena, where the Spurs were searching for a mascot to spice up their game day operations.
Someone handed Derk a fuzzy suit and that now-iconic headpiece, the one with manic green eyes and oversized ears. Pants were not only non-optional, but strictly discouraged.
That was the day the Spurs’ Coyote was born. Life would never be the same for the man inside the suit.
“I thought it was going to be a goofy little side gig,” said Derk, now 68. “It ended up being my job for the next 21 years.”
That 1983 debut against the Los Angeles Lakers was the first of 992 Derk would work as the original Spurs’ Coyote. He went on to make more than 5,000 additional community appearances as the Coyote (scientific name Entertainus Carnivorus) before an ischemic stroke forced Derk to stop performing in 2004.
Saturday at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, Derk will be enshrined into the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2025.
He joins a list that includes former Alamo Heights basketball coach Charlie Boggess, former Jefferson High and University of Texas volleyball and track standout Sharon Neugebauer-Shepard, trailblazing San Antonio Independent School coach and administrator Dr. Victor Rodriguez, and the Spurs’ 1999 NBA championship team, which will be inducted as a unit.
Derk is the only one in that group that might be better recognized while dressed head to toe in a canine costume.
“It’s something you didn’t even know you could dream about,” said Derk, who will be the first mascot immortalized in the San Antonio Sports of Hall of Fame. “At the time, nobody said, ‘I want to be a mascot someday.’ I was just really lucky to be in the right place at the right time.”
Raised in the suburbs of Chicago, Derk initially came to San Antonio to play tennis at Trinity University. Upon graduation, Derk took a job teaching tennis at the country club, biding time to figure out his next career move.
Performing was always in his blood. As a kid, Derk was a self-described class clown, drawing perpetual laughs from fellow students and exasperated eye rolls from teachers.
“My mother used to say when I was born, I popped out on the hospital table and said, ‘Ta-da!’ ” Derk said.
To scratch his show biz itch, Derk signed on as an actor with the Jack Pitluk Ad Agency in San Antonio and began to receive a steady stream of commercial jobs, some of which bordered on stunt work. He recalls one BMW spot vividly.
“They needed an actor dumb enough to stand in front of a speeding car,” Derk said. “That was me.”
Former Spurs Coyote Tim Derk, pictured at his home in San Antonio, was instrumental in the development of the T-shirt cannon, the propulsive device that is now ubiquitous at most sporting events.
The local NBA team was another of Pitluk’s clients. When the Spurs called in the spring of 1983 looking to invent a mascot out of whole cloth, Pitluk immediately phoned Derk.
The Coyote concept wasn’t a slam dunk at first. The Spurs also considered a Cowboy (too Dallas) and an Armadillo (too roadkill).
The team landed on The Coyote, and Derk showed up for his first night of work a few hours before the Spurs were to host the Los Angeles Lakers.
Until that moment, he had not so much as tried on the newly created Coyote costume. Slipping into it felt like Batman climbing into the Batmobile for the first time, or Luke Skywalker firing up his first light saber.
“I found something that let me be me,” Derk said.
After his two decades-plus run as the Coyote suit was over, Derk would find himself inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame and receive an Lifetime Achievement Award from the NBA.
His first night in the Coyote suit portended none of that.
There was no script. No instructions.
Derk’s dressing room at HemisFair Arena was in the bathroom of the visitor’s locker room. He plopped down on the floor next to the urinal waiting to go on.
“We didn’t know what it was supposed to be,” Derk said of his early days as the Coyote. “It was like a new frontier.”
What Derk assumed might have been a one-off gig turned into a way of life.
As Derk grew more confident as the Coyote, his act became as much a part of the Spurs experience as David Robinson’s dunks and Tim Duncan’s bank shots.
At times, the feats of athleticism performed by the Coyote during breaks in the action rivaled anything else that happened on the court.
Like any good super hero, Derk’s true identity remained a carefully guarded secret. He carried his Coyote suit to work in a giant black Hefty bag so as not to arouse public suspicion.
As the Coyote gained renown, opposing players and referees often joined in the show.
One day, Philadelphia 76ers star Charles Barkley approached Derk with an idea the Coyote initially found dubious.
“He said, ‘How about every time you come within 3 feet of me, I punch you?’ “ Derk recalled.
Upon determining Barkley was indeed serious, Derk figured the gag might work. Leaning on his background as a quasi-stunt man, Derk decided he could not only absorb the blow from the 6-foot-6, 250-pound All-Star forward, but also exaggerate it to comedic effect.
That night, Derk – in character as the Coyote – spent most of the game taunting Barkley from an ever-decreasing distance during timeouts – 5 feet, then 4 feet, then 3 ½.
Late in the fourth quarter, Derk intentionally wandered into the danger area. Barkley socked him. The Coyote went flying.
Most importantly to a Hall of Fame showman like Derk?
“The crowd went wild,” he said.
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News