B.D. was first introduced on September 30, 1968, in Trudeau's strip "Bull Tales" in the Yale Daily News. At the time, B.D.'s helmet was white, with a block letter "Y" for Yale. B.D. was reintroduced in the first Doonesbury strip in 1970 in which the popular quarterback became roommate to the nerdy, awkward Mike Doonesbury at Walden College. (At Walden, B.D. wore a football helmet with a star on the side.) Mike and B.D. had many differences and initially couldn't stand each other.