The Naval Academy is saddened to report the recent death of retired Navy goat mascot Bill 34. The decision was made to painlessly euthanize Bill 34 earlier this month due to health issues associated with old age; he was 15 years old.
“Bill 34 wasn’t just any old goat, he was the goat,” said Midshipman 1st Class (senior) Grant Vigneault, captain of the Bill the Goat Mascot program. “Stubborn and gnarly, 34 had a knack for people, shown by his devotion to years of Navy football. Our loyal mascot’s legacy will remain constant in academy culture for decades to come.”
He is survived by current mascots Bill 36 and Bill 37, both Angora goats. Bill 34 was also described as the “sweet” goat, not at all a troublemaker, with the softest and straightest angora coat. In the later years of his life, he was easily recognizable due to losing a horn after a head-butting incident with a younger brother.
Bill 34 was donated to the Naval Academy in 2007 along with Bill 33, who crossed the rainbow bridge in January 2021. Their final football season was in 2015, when they trained the young goats how to “wear out the Army mule” and perform their important mascot sideline duty of motivating Navy football fans. Bill 34 was the active mascot during the Academy’s longest football winning streak against Army in history, and earned a total nine “N stars” for his blanket.