Searching for Lost Mad Mike the Drum Beater

Yep, I remember Mad Mike. Sometimes he'd do it bare chested and had the red/white striped overhauls on! LOVED that as a kid. That's back when the the atmosphere was truly electric around the stadium. Being around lately, it does feel like it's coming back though.

 
A friend sent me this link, and I had to respond. Mad Mike, or just Mike now, is my father, and is still alive and well. He is still a HUGE Nebraska fan and would love to go to a game when it is not so cold. (He is a heart patient, but you would never know) He is still very loud and passionate about football! He would have stayed at Nebraska forever, but he does have a family with four children and needed more financial stability. I am sorry for the 6th grader who he made cry, but thats my dad, very passionate about everything he believes in. He went to work for a few different colleges after Nebraska, and then was hired on by the Chiefs until the wolf came around. Once that happened, he moved to San Diego and became Mighty Mike for the Chargers (same job description). All of which he is still a fan of, but I will say Nebraska still holds a special place in his heart. All four of those children that he has, he tried to get to go to Nebraska, but the finances werent available. As of the late 90's he had to retire his crowd motivator title and move back to Kansas City with his family. He is now a Pastor in his 70's and hopefully can retire soon.

Thanks for all the supportive words and funny stories! Its nice to find things on the internet about your crazy father! I was just a baby when all this was happening.

 
grandpasknee said:
Pretty sure Mad Mike either got paid or had some "formal" arrangement to be at the games. Also seems like there was a rift and he took his drum and show to another venue. Was great stuff though.

My favorite old time stadium memory was way back before the "wienerschlinger". There was an attorney/hippie guy that would dress in kind of an old coat/tie and actually hand toss hotdogs several dozen rows up into the stands. People would wad their money up and it would be handed from one person to another down to the vendor. That was the coolest thing ever I thought. He had an arm on him for sure.

Edit: Just read the link Knappic posted. The hot dog flinging attorney is mentioned in the same document, several paragraphs earier.
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Hello All, I am Mad Mike's daughter.  First off he started off doing Mad Mike for the Chiefs and Nebraska contacted him to do it for them as well.   My Uncle, along with my father, designed the Husker character; it was a spin-off from a similar character they created for the Chiefs for their creation "hanker-Chief".   Mad Mike also wrote and performed "I love being a Husker" and "Big Red Fever Attack".  These were paid gigs.  After leaving Huskers he went on to do it for the Chargers for a few years.  He retired from Mad Mike and is now the Rev. Michael Lyons in KC.  That's the story in a nutshell 

 
Klyons. I just saw and read this, researching Mad Mike.  You were a baby at the end of the Mad Mike days I will take your recount due to that fact and from stories you were told.  He retired to become a Pastor and health.  He's other 3 daughters were grown and off raising families of their own.

 
Tell Mike thanks for making the games that much more fun and entertaining. He truly was "mad" and we loved it. He wouldn't let anyone near him stay quietly in their seat. Miss those days.

 
Stacllyons said:
Hello All, I am Mad Mike's daughter.  First off he started off doing Mad Mike for the Chiefs and Nebraska contacted him to do it for them as well.   My Uncle, along with my father, designed the Husker character; it was a spin-off from a similar character they created for the Chiefs for their creation "hanker-Chief".   Mad Mike also wrote and performed "I love being a Husker" and "Big Red Fever Attack".  These were paid gigs.  After leaving Huskers he went on to do it for the Chargers for a few years.  He retired from Mad Mike and is now the Rev. Michael Lyons in KC.  That's the story in a nutshell 
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Stacy...thanks so  much for filling us in on the details of your father's life after he disappeared from the Husker stadium.  He was a big part of football Saturdays back then.  It is so easy for us just to ignore the "life" behind characters we see.  I wish you, your sisters and families and your father well.

 
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