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ESPN Daily

Texas A&M’s 12th Man Towel Heist

ESPN Daily

ESPN

Sports

4.63.9K Ratings

🗓️ 28 August 2024

⏱️ 30 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

You’ve heard of the 12th man before, but probably didn’t know that it originated at Texas A&M. Because back in 1922, a fan by the name of E. King Gill, literally came out of the crowd and donned a jersey, helmet, and pads to support the Aggies, after a rash of injuries shrunk their roster in the Dixie Classic. Some 60 years later, Jackie Sherrill, the newly appointed Aggie head coach was so impressed by the rough and tumble nature of the student body, that he literally assembled a kick coverage team made up entirely of walk ons, called the 12th Man Kickoff Coverage Unit. ESPN College Football reporter Dave Wilson explains how that rogue unit of madmen, took it to Notre Dame, and its Heisman Trophy winner Tim Brown, in the 1988 Cotton Bowl. And tells us all about the trophy that they claimed from that game. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Dave Wilson, what if I told you that after reading your story, I'm thoroughly convinced that Johnny

0:07.1

Manzel isn't even close to the wildest player that's ever come through those Texas A&M halls.

0:13.0

I think there'd be plenty of people that would agree with you.

0:16.0

If you know anything about the Aggies, you know that there's a spirit that can never be told.

0:21.0

And these 12th men guys really embody that. They lay it all out

0:25.0

for their team to represent their own student body. Who are those people though that

0:29.8

do that

0:35.0

do I have that right? I see them on the internet a lot and they seem to have a lot to say all the time

0:40.0

but I cannot remember their name.

0:41.0

Those are the Yale leaders Clinton. We don't they're not their name. Those are the Yale leaders Clinton.

0:43.4

We don't they're not Yale calls they're yells. Bam better figure it out and figure it out quick before coming into cow field because

0:55.5

Estron Cooper, Walter Nolan, Bryce Anderson are ready to make the nation know that the fighting Texas Aggie wrecking her defense

1:06.5

is back.

1:07.5

Let's have a fighting and take that yell practice. It's one of the things that makes Texas A&M one of the most unique environments in

1:29.6

college football and one of the best environments to watch a college football game I might add.

1:33.7

I do sir stand corrected.

1:35.6

Thank you. Rivalries still exist in college football, but they don't all involve teams that play each other every year.

1:54.0

For some schools bad blood can flow in the form of past beefs like moments frozen in time.

2:01.0

For Texas A&M and Notre Dame, two of the oldest programs in America,

2:06.4

1988 was a pivotal year, one in which a Heisman Trophy winner, tackling a walk-on after the whistle, became the stuff of legend,

2:16.6

and put a spotlight on one of the most fascinating traditions and histories in the game that

2:21.7

includes, well, a laundry list.

...

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