Tiger paw designer John Antonio dies

Clemson Sports Information

I'm very late catching up to this. John Antonio, the ad man who created Clemson's distinctive paw logo, died in May. From the press release:

Antonio then wrote the Museum of National History in Chicago and asked for a plaster-of-paris cast of the imprint of a Bengal Tiger's paw.  This was sent to Henderson and a picture was made, slightly tilted about 10 degrees to the right.
Antonio had a meeting with Clemson coaches and administrators in early summer of 1970 and showed the use of the Tiger paw on stationary, athletic fields and uniforms.  Howard, then the director of athletics, was not impressed until Antonio pulled out an orange Clemson helmet from under the desk.  He had affixed a white tiger paw to the helmet.  It was unusual in those times to have any logo on a college helmet.
"That helmet made a big impact on Coach Howard," Sports Information Director Bob Bradley recalled years later.  "He was so impressed he wanted to bring that helmet back to Clemson and show everyone."

Rest in peace, John, and thanks for creating the modern Clemson image.