Jimmy Fallon Skit Over Purdue's 'Boilermakers' Nickname Goes Viral
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A skit from The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon attempted to make Purdue's "Boilermakers" nickname the butt of the joke. But after a few rounds on social media, plenty of fans wearing gold and black decided to set the record straight.
This week, the late-night program ran a short skit regarding the mascots for each of the 16 teams remaining in the NCAA Tournament. With Purdue's mascot being a little more complex than some of the other teams remaining in March Madness, Fallon and his team took some shots at the Boilermakers.
Below is the clip from the show:
A studio audience member (@brooksallison_) helps Jimmy break down this year's @MarchMadnessMBB Sweet 16 mascots with a rap 🏀 #FallonTonight #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/eIYdSk6m0R
— The Tonight Show (@FallonTonight) March 27, 2025
Once the Purdue University social media team caught wind of the skit, it decided to offer some help to Fallon and his team.
"No worries ... we've been explaining it for over a century," the post reads. "Back in the 1890s, a newspaper called our football team the 'Burly Boiler Makers.' The name stuck, and over time, it came to mean a whole lot more than just sports."
So, there you have it. For anyone still wondering how Purdue got its unique mascot and nickname, the explanation is available.
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Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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