Mississippi State alumnus, baseball superfan Daniel Faulkner reflects on 'Party Berm Squad'

STARKVILLE – It started as a casual trip to the store. Daniel Faulkner entered The Lodge in hopes of finding a “cute little outfit” for his niece. The Mississippi State dress he stumbled upon fit the bill, but then something caught his eye.

Faulkner was looking for a hat to add to his collection when he noticed a maroon headband with a white M-over-S logo on it.

“I’d look kind of cool in that,” he thought to himself.

So he bought it.

The headband complemented his tank top, which started as a joke. Faulkner had been selected as “Dude of the game” at a game against Oregon State in 2020.

Tasked with picking a prize, Faulkner's eyes immediately gravitated toward the item he was least likely to use.

“Tank top,” Faulkner said. “Summer, baby. Let’s go.”

The headband and tank top have since become part of MSU baseball fan lore, catching the attention of the ESPN broadcast against Notre Dame last season and gaining steam as the Bulldogs marched to their first national title.

Mississippi State was crushing the Irish in sizzling conditions, and the TV crew noticed Faulkner back in the front row of the right field berm. Faulkner’s phone began to fill with notifications from friends and family seeing his face on their televisions. The legend of the Party Berm Squad was born.

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Family matters

Faulkner’s dad graduated from Mississippi State in 1989. His mom went to Texas A&M but earned her masters at MSU.

Through his family’s moves to Dallas, New Orleans and Houston, implementing a maroon and white fandom into Faulkner maintained. Mississippi College and A&M were in consideration, but where Faulkner wound up for for college was hardly up for debate.

“It was always going to be State,” Faulkner says.

His first game at Davis Wade Stadium came as a child in 2007 – a win against Gardner Webb. He drove to Columbus, Ohio, in 2018 with his grandmother and dad to watch Mississippi State women’s basketball fall short in the national championship.

Mississippi State sports were a cornerstone in Faulkner’s life, but enrolling in the fall 2018 and living the reality of being a student felt surreal. He attended as many sporting events as he could, moving as close as a freshman could to the front row.

When he didn’t have friends to go with during the heights of Vic Schaefer’s tenure at MSU, Faulkner joined his grandmother who had seats to watch her favorite program.

"(Life) was always maroon and white," Faulkner said.

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Faulkner, like many sports fans, dreaded what came with the initial COVID-19 outbreak.

“Are we ever going to have sports again?” he thought.

Mississippi State women’s basketball was en route to hosting NCAA Tournament games while the men’s team was making a late push for the postseason. Baseball was expected to have another Omaha-worthy season.

And then it was gone along with a chunk of Faulkner’s college experience.

Faulkner attended football games in 2020 when students returned to campus, but the experience was nothing like pre-pandemic.

So when baseball returned in 2021 and increased crowds followed, Faulkner’s friend Walker Phillips encouraged their friends to line up early and try to sit together in the front of the berm every game.

That meant maneuvering through others – even the dreaded freshmen – trying to snatch their spot.

They sat up front as crowd restrictions loosened. They built their fame as postseason play rolled through. Eventually, they made their way to Omaha to watch the national championship.

Faulkner thought back to his grandmother, an MSU super fan, who died in 2020 and never got to see State win a national championship. He thought back to when sports were taken away.

He knew he was living a moment many longed for.

“We did the damn thing,” Faulkner said. “It was just a whole flow of emotions. I didn’t know what to do.”

Maintaining a culture

Faulkner graduated last week with a degree in history. As prepares for a job, the Florida series two weeks ago was his last as a student.

In the series finale, he put the headband on once more and broke out the sweaty tank top he vowed to never wear again.

Three days after the series finale, he exited the shower and saw a Twitter notification awaiting him. Mississippi State baseball had put together a video with footage of Faulkner in the stands as he explained what Mississippi State meant to him.

A plethora of love came Faulkner’s way, including a response from coach Chris Lemonis.

“Daniel and his crew are what make the Dude special,” he wrote. “And he is at every sporting event. We will always have a spot on the berm for you.”

If Faulkner takes Lemonis up on the offer, it’ll be in the back of the berm, he said.

Sitting in the front row is reserved for current students, and as an alumnus he considers himself no exception.

“I never intended to build a culture,” Faulkner said. “Now that the culture is built, I want the culture to be continued by kids who are in school.”

Stefan Krajisnik is the Mississippi State beat writer for the Clarion Ledger. Contact him at skrajisnik@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter @skrajisnik3.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: How Daniel Faulkner became Mississippi State's most recognizable fan