fanbase is the 12th man in texas a&m.
what is the 12th man in texas a&m?
fanbase
the first known instance of texas a&m referring to its fanbase as the "12th man" is contained on page 17 of 25 november 1921 edition of "the battalion", the texas a&m campus newspaper. ever since the day e. king gill left the stands in 1922, the entire student body has stood throughout the game to symbolize their "readiness, desire, and enthusiasm" to take the field if needed. a statue of e. king gill stands on the campus.
12th man (football)
the 12th man towel was created in the fall of 1985 by rusty riley and kyle harris, then president and vice president of the 12th man student aggie club, respectively, with the help of gary leach and larry leach, then club secretary and treasurer. the concept was presented to the aggie club faculty managers harry green jr., executive director of the 12th man foundation, and jackie sherrill, texas a&m university athletic director and head football coach. once their approval was given, rusty and kyle found a manufacturer in new york city through a local distributor in bryan, texas, and authorization was given to sell the towels on campus by school management and chic sell, who had the concession rights in kyle field. the first 1,000 towels were purchased and delivered in time for the first home game of the 1985 college football season. kyle and rusty, along with a handful of aggie club members, sold the towels for $2 each in makeshift booths at strategic locations within kyle field. it was an immediate success, with all towels being sold at the first game. the a&m yell leaders initially resisted the towels, claiming the aggie club was breaking tradition, but the battalion staff supported the concept and began a successful selling and media campaign to help the towel gain acceptance throughout the a&m student body. rusty worked with the head yell leader on accepting the towel and once the yell leaders accepted it, a press conference was held with rusty, coach sherrill, and the head yell leader. as the football season carried on, the 12th man towel continued selling in large quantities. the aggie club hired students to sell the towels at the msc and on aggie club property, which at the time was located right outside of the main entrance to kyle field. the towel also gained an important supporting cast when coach sherrill's 12th man kick-off team squad began carrying them to motivate the student body in the stands. the 1985 regular college football season ended with a home game versus the texas longhorns. at that game, a sea of white 12th man towels filled the stadium, cheering the aggies to a 42-10 victory. the aggies went on to win the southwest conference title and defeat auburn in the cotton bowl on january 1, 1986, with the 12th man towels proudly displayed to a national audience. tony pollacia (15), a member of the 12th man squad, and his towel-waving antics became legendary. when texas a&m won its first cotton bowl under coach jackie sherrill in 1986, the dallas morning news chose to run his photograph, in color, on the front page of its sunday paper. during the 1988 cotton bowl classic, which a&m played against notre dame, another towel was a point of contention. twice during that game, warren barhorst, a member of sherrill's 12th man kickoff team, tackled heisman trophy winner tim brown, and then grabbed brown's towel and waved it over his head. an infuriated brown tackled barhorst, earning himself a 15-yard unsportsman-like conduct penalty.
traditions of texas a&m university