the first ever "Gritty anti-runners 5K" took place. This 5K race included Gritty's favorite things along the track, including hot dogs, silly string, and a shrine to Claude Giroux. In November 2019, during a fan meet-and-greet between Gritty and Flyers season ticket holders, a fan reported that the Flyers employee portraying Gritty punched their 13-year-old son in the back. After an internal investigation by the Flyers led to no other witnesses of such abuse, the fan reported the incident to the Philadelphia Police Department, which has led to its own investigation. On February 3, 2020, the Flyers employee portraying Gritty was officially cleared of any wrongdoing and charges were declined to be filed following an investigation conducted by the South Detectives Division of the Philadelphia Police Department. Gritty introduced the Philadelphia Fusion during 2019 and 2020 home-stand matches. In May 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Pennsylvania, Gritty began wearing a face shield. In September, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health released a promotional video featuring Gritty to encourage wearing face masks in public, and in December the department and the NHL cleared Gritty to resume public appearances at Flyers games. Gritty appeared in the season premiere of ABC's Philadelphia-set sitcom Abbott Elementary in the season two premiere, "Development Day". The episode premiered on September 21, 2022. Gritty made a professional wrestling appearance at WWE's Extreme Rules event held on October 8, 2022, getting beaten by The Miz backstage who was looking for Dexter Lumis. Eventually, after Lumis put Miz to sleep, Gritty attacked him and left. Reception Observers brought attention to his appearance, which could be construed as frightening, while The Guardian described him as an "acid trip of a mascot." Response to Gritty's introduction was immediate and sharply mixed, with many fans on social media expressing bewilderment and some fright at his appearance. Public perception of Gritty became increasingly positive as Gritty's antics, which subverted the cuddly, family-friendly appearance and demeanor of other NHL mascots, gained more attention on social media. Gritty was lampooned on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and Saturday Night Live. Philadelphia residents embraced Gritty shortly after his debut as representing the city's rough and tumble character. The Philadelphia City Council passed a formal resolution honoring Gritty in October, declaring that he honored the city's spirit and passion. Within two months, the mascot amassed almost 200,000 Twitter followers. Gritty was the top league