Bio

Drake Fenlon was definitely one of the most visible members of the Tennessee Tech spirit squads, but very few people ever actually saw his face as he performed in the role of Golden Eagle mascot Awesome Eagle.

Entertaining the crowd and his legion of adoring youth fans, Fenlon represented the Purple and Gold proudly, even leading to two UCA Open Mascot Division national championships in 2014 and 2015 – named the division’s top mascot against some of the country’s top programs – and gave Tech Spirit its first national championships in program history.

Donning the suit, Fenlon gave Awesome Eagle an electric personality, showcasing high-level choreography, innovative prop usages and exceptional crowd engagement. With his performances, Fenlon earned national acclaim and raised the visibility of Tennessee Tech Athletics.

His tenure at Tech led Fenlon on to the professional stage as he performed as a mascot with the Nashville Soccer Club (2021-23), San Francisco 49ers and Golden State Warriors (both 2019-21), Oakland Athletics (2018-20), Lake Elsinore Storm (2016-18), Missouri Mavericks (2015-16), Kansas City Chiefs (2015-16) and Kansas City Royals (2015-16) during the Royals’ 2015 World Series championship run.

Fenlon also had an excellent record as a student at Tennessee Tech. In addition to his work with the Tech Spirit teams, he served as the managing editor of The Oracle student newspaper and program director and show host on WTTU 88.5 FM. Fenlon was also active in the Student Government Association, the Tech Players, the Society of Collegiate Journalists and the Tech Women’s Center.

He was named the 2015 recipient of the prestigious Derryberry Award, earned the Thomas Weitzel Memorial Endowed Scholarship in 2014 and was named as the College of Interdisciplinary Studies Alumnus of the Year in 2022.

Fenlon has continued to help train Awesome Eagles since graduation and remains active with the spirit squad program as a mentor. He also contributes to panels, lectures and media projects for the Department of Communication.

He is also active in community service, participating in hundreds of charity events annually across markets, advocating for food assistance and homeless assistance. Fenlon works with Special Olympics programs nationwide.

During his time with Lake Elsinore, Fenlon co-created the PAWSitivity with Thunder literacy program, leading to over 100 school assemblies annually across Southern California. The program reached 70,000 students a year, teaching positive mindset and literacy skills. Students who reached the “10 books read” milestone received tickets to a Storm baseball game.

Fenlon earned his bachelor’s degree in communications from Tech in 2015.