KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - You may see him running on the field in a coonskin cap with a rifle on a University of Tennessee game day, but who is the man who inspired the mascot symbolizing the Volunteer spirit?

David Crockett was a farmer, politician and expert hunter. Dr. Warren Dockter, the president of East Tennessee Historical Society, said Crockett was a leader in many ways. His character solidified his nickname as the “King of the Frontier.”

“He’s one of those larger-than-life figures that we get to say East Tennessee was his home,” Dockter said. “He would use his anecdotal stories about himself to build up who he was, and I think he realized quite early on that he could be what we’d call today, an influencer.”

Crockett started his political career in the Tennessee General Assembly

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