Local Girl, 7, Is Gritty's Biggest Fan, 'She Loves Him So Much'

Gritty may be the number one fan of the Philadelphia Flyers, but you'd be hard pressed to find a bigger fan of Gritty than Cailin Ryan.

The local 7-year-old, a native of Hatfield who currently lives in Northeast Philadelphia, lives and breathes the big, orange, goofy, horrifying, loving agent of chaos that has become a national sensation.

"She has loved him from the first time she saw him," Cailin's mom, Patti Ryan, told Patch. "She watches him every chance she gets. She loves that he is silly and makes people laugh and have a good time. She likes that he falls too and gets right back up and no one makes fun of him."

Cailin has always been a Flyers fan — going to her first NHL game last year was like winning the lottery, her mom says — but Gritty is the icing on the cake. So when it came time for Halloween this year, Cailin naturally had only one costume option.

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That's easier said than done. Gritty was, unsurprisingly, a popular costume this year, but Cailin and her mom went the extra mile to create something truly special. They were determined to create a homemade costume. Patti Ryan called every fabric store within 20 miles of their home to find the right orange fur (ultimately she ordered it online). Then the arm sleeves had to be carefully trimmed to make sure Cailin didn't get too hot because unlike Gritty, Cailin wasn't skating on ice when she donned her suit. Then they used a pool noodle to hook under the fur and make the head of the costume appropriately outsized.

A pair of notoriously huge googly eyes were taken apart, painted part-black, and then affixed to the head. They bought a youth Flyers jersey and helmet online and painted Gritty and his "00" on the back. They added shorts, gloves, and dark shoes, and then the final touch: another pool noodle wedged under the shirt to account for Gritty's corpulent middle.

Cailin is defensive of her orange hero.

"She honestly gets upset when people say he is scary or they don't like him," her mom notes.

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Calin is a student at MaST Community Charter School II, and plans on wearing the costume again at an upcoming themed sports day.

Being Gritty is about more than just the costume, though. It's about embodying the legend. And no one does it better than Cailin. When she wears the costume, she dances with other children who come up to her, and "gives them hugs and makes them laugh" just like Gritty would. She's even perfected the world-famous, Phanatic-inspired, Gritty belly roll.

He may strike terror into the hearts of his opponents, but here in Philly, Gritty is our monster.

Photos courtesy of Patti Ryan