How Hogs Can Have Aggies Using 12th Man Towels to Wipe Tears

When they arrived in 1985 it has become part of A&M tradition Razorbacks will see Saturday

Texas A&M Aggies fans cover their heads with 12th Man Towels from the heat as they watch the Aggies play against the Appalachian State Mountaineers in the third quarter at Kyle Field. / Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

A little white towel hung on my golf bag for several years and was quite the conversation piece. It had maroon letters and numbers and folks that didn't know me wondered why in the heck would a guy who lived in Fayetteville display such a thing.

Well, as I recall, it was 1985 when the little towel was placed at my seat in the football press box. The game was at Kyle Field on the Texas A&M campus and the media was "gifted" a 12th Man towel. The Aggies hadn't been ranked all season but slipped past the No. 9 Razorbacks that day, 10-6, en route to winning the Southwest Conference championship.

The 12th Man tradition had been "revived" two years earlier by football coach Jackie Sherill, 61 years after it began. The towels came along as a marketing scheme in 1985 as Sherrill restored pride and a winning tradition that lives to this day, albeit it far from what rich boosters and fans want for what was supposedly the best team money could buy for several recent seasons.

Gotta tell you, the Aggie yell leaders — who are the school's equivalent of a cheerleading squad — are mostly annoying. What's cool is their amazing band and the tradition of the 12th Man.

The original 12th Man towel distributed in the press box at Kyle Field in 1985 for Razorbacks' game against Texas A&M. / Bob Stephens-Hogs on SI Images

That 12th Man thing began in 1922 in the Dixie Classic when Centre College of Kentucky squared off against the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, known as A&M. In 1963, the Texas state legislature officially changed the school's name to Texas A&M.

Now, just a bit more history. Centre's Praying Colonels beat powerhouse Harvard that season in what ESPN called in 2006 the third-greatest upset in college football history. A&M won the Southwest Conference with a 3-0-2 league mark in 1921 while Arkansas was 2-1-0 in conference, but the schools didn't play each other.

The Dixie Classic, played in Dallas, only occurred following the 1921, 1924 and 1933 seasons. It was, though, the precursor to the Cotton Bowl, which has been played without interruption since New Year's Day following the 1936 season. Only change is the game moved out of the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, which was constructed in 1930, and relocated to the fabulous AT&T Stadium in Arlington, also affectionately known as Jerry's World after Arkansas alum and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

But, we digress. Traveling back in time again to 1922, A&M had player after player hurt in the January 2 Dixie Bowl. So, as legend has it, another player was needed and out of the stands came an A&M student who had been cheering on his mates. E. King Gill helped A&M to a 22-14 victory in front of an announced crowd of 20,000 — although it had dwindled to 19,999 after King moved to the gridiron.

A view of the E. King Gill statue at Kyle Field before the game between the Texas A&M Aggies and the Clemson Tigers. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Thus was born the legend of the Aggies' 12th Man and it's why about 34,000 A&M students stand during the entire games at Kyle Field.

When Sherrill — who was a graduate assistant coach under Frank Broyles at Arkansas in 1967 — brought back the 12th Man tradition, he did it with a flair. He put out a call for walkons from the student body to form the entire A&M kickoff team. It was a nice gesture that garnered the coach, the school, and the former high school players who were picked, immense publicity.

Nobody will be coming out of the stands at Jerrys World on Saturday to save the Aggies. A&M has enough talent to beat Arkansas, and is favored by about 4 points.

Kickoff is at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN. So, Razorback fans, enjoy the game, whether it's from a seat in the stadium, your couch or recliner or at the local watering hole.

Something tells me it's the A&M fans who will need one of those 12th Man towels to wipe away their tears when this one's over.

HOGS FEED:

• Southwest Classic key reason why Green chose Razorbacks

• Petrino molded Hogs into Top 5 program using literal line in sand that broke star players

• Razorback fans looking backward, but coaches focused on Aggies

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