Purdue Pete did not always act alone. In the late '90s and early '00s he was accompanied by a 10-foot inflatable named Rowdy.

A star was on the bench, an early lead erased and a home crowd getting rowdy did not deter the Boilermakers at Iowa.

Nathan Kamal is a Newsweek contributor based in Chicago. His focus is sports and entertainment content, focusing on the NFL and professional wrestling. Nathan has been with Newsweek since 2024 and ...

serving as the head coach of Ole Miss from 2013 through 2015. A former Marine and Purdue Boilermaker, Pete has been covering the Chicago Bears since 2022 as a senior contributor on BearsTalk.