For Ryan ‘Gumby’ Henry, the routine has always been the same.

It starts with walking through the left door of Gate E. Pay homage to Ernie Davis’ Heisman Trophy and Mikey Powell’s photo. Touch the ceiling beams while Jason Gruenauer grabs a drink from the fountain. Tap the ‘No Smoking’ sign, but don’t rush the entrance. Section 103, Row J, fourth seat in. Greet the band and don’t leave out the security guards. Listen to the 44-song playlist — actually, make it 45; can’t forget the national anthem. Just like any other game, the clock ticks down.

Try finding a louder, more animated Syracuse fan than Gumby in the past five years. In his signature white Syracuse basketball jersey, orange shorts and assorted sweatbands, Gumby considered the student section his own team, bringing animation and energy to the Carrier Dome’s student section.

But these days, he finds himself in a different outfit, stepping out from the stands onto the field as a cheerleader, bolting across the end zone, flag in hand, and tossing cheerleaders in the air. Whether in the stands or on the field, Gumby has never stopped believing in the fans — fans that could change the game, for better or worse.

For Gumby, it was never about the ‘so-called fame’ and recognition he has achieved as the face of fandom for Syracuse University athletics.

Lead with optimism and enthusiasm, and others follow, he said. Finding that optimism is rarely a problem for Gumby, said his close friend Gruenauer.

‘There were some games where, specifically in basketball, that they’d be down a little bit or turning the ball over,’ said Gruenauer, a member of Gumby’s gameday crew. ‘He would rise up, and it was contagious. Everyone around him would push harder and cheer louder, and all of a sudden, there was a point swing.’

With every Syracuse win, Gumby knew he had something to do with it. A loss, well, that too was partially his fault.

‘(Gumby) put every ounce of himself into cheering for a game,’ Gruenauer said. ‘If Syracuse played a great game, he really felt that he had an impact on that, and I agree. I really think that he did.’

Showing up hours before game time, Gumby was always ready for another competition and another chance to will the team to victory.

He expects the campus passersby to only know him as Gumby or ‘that dude at the game.’

‘Gumby,’ a nickname given to him by his father, only grazes the surface of the leader, the student and the friend beneath. His nickname bears no connection with the green stretchy cartoon character, but since he can remember, it is what he almost always answers to.

‘I ended up with half my high school not knowing my real name,’ Henry said. ‘It’s sort of became an alter ego. Everyone knows the spirit and life of Gumby, but no one really knows Ryan Henry.’

Henry, a fifth-year landscape architecture major at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, has spent most of his college career supporting athletics. He spent his fourth year as a member of the Intercollegiate Athletics Board, using his passion for sports to help launch ESF’s athletics program.

‘(Sports) can give you goosebumps. It’s the stuff that stories are made out of,’ Henry said. ‘It’s the best feeling in the world when you’re part of a team that appreciates you for who you are and what you can do.’

It was those goosebumps that, when life outside the Dome got tough, always remained the same.

Henry’s time at ESF wasn’t always easy. Finding a niche in his class didn’t come automatically, leaving him wondering if ESF was the right fit. Leah Flynn, director of student activities at ESF and Henry’s friend since his first year, still tells her family stories about him. One time, after receiving a concerned call from Henry’s mom, Flynn had to walk to Henry’s dorm and remind him to keep in touch with her. Flynn’s nieces and nephews, though they have never met Henry, still ask how he’s doing.

‘It’s not like he stumbled into anything bad, but he questioned if this was the right place for him and if he was being accepted,’ Flynn said. ‘He had two choices: He could either up and leave and say, ‘Maybe I should find something else,’ or stay and stick it out.’

Henry chose the latter. Once he had decided to stay, the Dome wasn’t just woven into his routine: It became it. Henry sat above the players’ entrance gate at his first football game, and the atmosphere quickly became addicting, he said.

‘I walk into that Dome and everything — all the worries, all the homework, all the stress that I have — just melts away,’ Henry said. ‘I don’t think about anything else, I just think about wanting to win the game and wanting to do everything in my power to make that happen.’

So when his standard student section crew graduated in May 2010, it meant an end to the normal ritual. He still had one year left on campus, but had already said his goodbyes.

‘He was worried about not being able to have as much fun this year because his crew was gone,’ Henry’s father, Alan, said. ‘When you’re with the same eight people for four years, he had to find a different way to share his enthusiasm.’

Approached by the SU cheerleading coach after his appearance at last year’s College GameDay, Ryan decided to spend his last year on the field, rather than in the stands he had come to know so well. This new role is challenging, but he said he’s getting the hang of it, just in time for this week’s game against Pittsburgh.

‘I know what I need to do now to get the student section excited for the Pitt game,’ Ryan said. ‘I want to make the Dome the hardest place to play for this game.’

Gumby’s devotion to both SU and ESF goes deeper than any basketball game, said Rebecca Daniels, the communications director for the Office of Residence Life who helped Ryan during his time as a resident adviser, in an e-mail interview.

‘Whenever you go anywhere with him, it’s always ‘Hey, Gumby! What’s up?!’ And he knows everyone’s name and what their story is … and I’m talking about hundreds of people,’ Daniels said. ‘He loves his fellow students, and I am pretty sure that his experience with both schools can be summed up by his friendships and the people whose lives he has touched, and vice versa.’

With graduation looming, Ryan said he isn’t sure what his fandom will translate to in later years. Though his routine will have to change, he promises his passion for life and athletics never will. The love for his schools and his peers will always run deep.

‘(Bleeding orange) is something that a lot of people casually throw around, but is only really true for a few people,’ Gruenauer said. ‘I know for a fact that Gumby bleeds orange.’

akgould@syr.edu

Published on October 13, 2010 at 12:00 pm