The Battalion College Station (Brazos County), Texas
Thursday, August 21,1958
PAGE 7
‘The Twelfth Man
Living Tradition
,.,. T rw*,*fs
Readiness for personal service, a
desire to support and devotion for
all and the school have embued all
A&M students with a spirit of
unity that is almost sacred. And
the reverence due it, as expressed
in the tradition of the “Twelfth
Man,” has grown more venerable
from year to year.
Born in a rock-em, sock-em inter
sectional football game 37 years
ago, this living and breathing spirit
is expressed in a football term
—the 12th man on the team. For
each student gets on his feet at the
opening kick-off and remains
standing through the final whistle
or gun as a symbol of readiness
for duty should the eleven men on
the gridiron need assigtance and re
placement.
And that’s exactly what happen
ed one day in January, 1922, in the
forerunner of today’s Cotton Bowl
Classic at Dallas. The Twelfth
Man tradition was born in Dallas,
Jan. 2 1922, in a game between
the Texas Aggies and the famous
Praying Colonels of Centre Col
lege,
Centre had electrified the foot
ball world in the 1921 season by
turning up with a wonder team.
The Colonels had surprised the na
tion’s sports fans by defeating one
of the greatest Harvard football
AsM MENS SHOP
103 MAIN NORTH GATE
* t: •
AGGK OWNED
teams, G-0. On the Centre team
were several boys who had begun
their careers at North Side High
in Fort Worth, Texas. Those boys
not only were ready but eager to
show their prowess before Texas
home-folks.
As the game entered the fourth
quarter the Aggie coach, Dana X.
Bible, now athletic director at Tex
as University, saw his light but
fast backs one by one being carried
off the field. With some time left
to play, Bible was down to one
backfield substitute. Then he re
membered a sophomore back who
had been working out with the
squad all season, a boy named King
Gill with plenty of heart but with
out weight and experience. Gill had
not been taken to Dallas with the
team but he had gone to the game
and was in the> stands with the
Cadet Corps.
Bible sent a yell leader into the
stands to find Gill and to tell him
to suit up and join the squad on the
bench. Gill did not play in the
game but since he was called upon
from the stands and was ready, he
became the first “Twelfth Man.”
Since that date Aggie coaches
have called upon the Corps for a
Twelfth Man several times, espec
ially during the war years. This
is why the students stand through
out a football game in which Tex
as A. and M. is playing. They stand
ready to help the team at all times.
In 1941, Mrs. Ford Munnerlyn,
wife of a former Texas Aggie,
wrote the words and music to a
song, “The Twelfth Man” which
the corps accepted as a school song.
Prepares to Tee Off
Bobby Nichols, 1956 Southwest Conference golf champion,
prepares to tee off another shot. A top notch amateur
golfer, Nichols is only one of the many fine golfers who
play for golfing coach Joe Fagan.
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PAUL LOWRY, ’41 — Owner
Intramural
D
Of Student’s
Big Part
Activities
Intramurals, which are a big
part of campus activity at A&M,
are set-up on a competitive basis
between Air Force squadrons,
Army outfits and Civilian teams
under three classes.
The three are class “A” for
Corps upperclassmen, class “B” for
Corps freshmen and class “C” for
civilian teams. This is all under
the direction of Barney Welch,
former A&M football star, and
his staff of student intramural
managers.
‘The main outcome of this pro
gram is students being able to let
off steam,” said Welch.
The managers referee, umpire
and control all intramural sports.
They do most of the actual field
work and are awarded a
sweater at the end of each year.
They see that all rules are obeyed,
all games are run without mis
hap and compute each outfit’s
scores.
Rule books are passed out to
each outfit.
The outfits and dorms appoint
their own intramural officer who
is usually a senior. It is the job
of the officer to appoint the teams
and see that they get practice and
know which days they play. The
officer has assistants to help in
this work.
All during the school year there
are all forms of sports. There are
the 15 regular intramural sports.
Also there are the open sports
which outfits may receive extra
points for winning.
Each outfit is required to enter
at least 10 of the regular sports.
At the end of the year points are
compiled and awards are given to
the winners of each class.
The sports that can be entered
are swimming, wrestling, golf,
horseshoes, handball, softball,
bowling, rifle, tennis, track, cross
country, football, ping pong, bas
ketball, volleyball, open tennis,
open golf, open handball and open
badminton.
Each outfit receives 50 points
for each regular sport it has en
tered. Extra points are given for
winning the finals. For winning
league a team receives ten points,
five for reaching finals and ten
for winning finals.
For every game that is for
feited an outfit is docked 50
points. Thus at the end of the
year the outfit with the most
points is awarded the year’s Intra
mural Flag to be carried at Corps
reviews.
First Aggie Squad
Known As Farmers
Aggie football began in 1893,
when they fielded a team but play
ed no games with out-of-town
teams. In 1894, the Aggies, then
known as the Farmers, played road
games including the fii’st of the
traditional battles with the Uni
versity of Texas, then known as
the Varsity.
The late Dean Emeritus Charles
Puryear, who had joined the fac
ulty in 1888, was the first manager
and one of those responsible for
football being established at the
Ex-TU Sprinter
New Track Mentor
Charley Thomas, all-America
sprinter at the University of Tex
as and hig’hly successful coach at
East Texas State the past three
years, has been named head track
coach at A&M.
Thomas replaces Ray Putnam,
who has served in an. acting capa
city since the retirement a year ago
of Col. Frank Anderson. Putnam is
a fulltime member of the A&M
Department of Economics.
The 27-year-old Thomas won the
Southwest Conference 220-yard
dash title three consecutive years
AsM MENS SHOP
■ ’ ' " ' v / ' v
103 MAIN — NORTH GATE
AGGIE OWNED
while running at Texas and his
:20.4 in 1952 as a sophomore still
stands as a conference record. He
also won the conference 100 in 1953
and was national collegiate champ
in 1954 in the 220 dash.
A native of Fosteria, Texas,
Thomas earned 12 letters in four
sports at Splendoria, Tex. and Cle
veland, Tex. high schools. In eight
years of x-unning tx'ack Thomas was
beaten but twice in the 220 dash—
both times in the Border Olympics
high school division.
The new Aggie coach was at
East Texas State of Commerce for
three years and led the Lions to a
Lone Star Confex'ence crown every
year.
He is married to the former Miss
Cecil Thigpen of Cleveland/ The
couple has two children, a 5-year-
old daughter and a year-old son.
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A&M Since 1891
College Station
college. A&M played no out-of-
town games in 1895, but x-esumed
a schedule in 1896 and have coxx-
tinued to do so ever since.
The Ags first undefeated sea
son came in 1902, a year in which
the Cadets won seven and tied
two. A&M also was the champion
of Texas in 1909 and 1910, but in
1910 there was a loss to Ax-kansas,
and TCU held the 1909 team to a
scoi-eless tie. The 1912 team was
hailed as “Champion of the South”
in spite of a 13-10 loss to the Kan
sas State Wildcats.
A&M was a member of the Tex
as Intex-collegiate Athletic Asso
ciation until the Southwest Ath
letic Conference was formed in
1914 and is a remaining chax’ter
member of that organization along
with Texas, Ax’kansas, Rice Instit-
tute and Baylor. Southex*n Metho
dist was admitted when the Uni
versity of Oklahoma dx-opped oul
and Texas Christian Univex’sity
took the place vacated by Oklahoma
A&M. Texas Tech became the
eighth member of the Southwest
Conference in 1956 but will not
participate for the football cham
pionship until the 1960 season.
The Fighting Texas Aggies,
widely known for their spix-it and
desire to win, have won the cham
pionship eight times outxdght and
tied with SMU another. A&M won
the title in 1917, 1919, 1921, 1925,
1927, 1939, tied in 1940, won again
in 1941 and 1956.
The 1939 Aggie team was Na
tional Champion and defeated Tii-
lane in the Sugar Bowl classic.
The teams of 1917 and 1919 were
unbeaten, untied and unscox-ed up
on while the 1939 and 1956 teams
were unbeaten.
In 63 seasons of gridiron com
petition the Aggies have met 82
teams from 24 states for an all-
time x*ecord of 332 wins, 183 losses
and 39 ties. A&M has scored
9,823 points to 4,711 for the op
position. The Aggies hold an
edge on all opponents played a
number of times with the excep
tion of Centenary, Oklahoma, Ai’-
kansas and Texas. Centenary has
beaten A&M six of nine games
and Oklahoma holds a 7-5 record
edge. Texas, the oldest rival of
the Cadets, has woxx 47 games to
17 for A&M with five ties.
The Aggies have played against
teams from Alabama, Axdzona, Ax - -
kansaos, California, Florida, Geox’-
gia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan,
Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska,
Nevada, New Mexico, New Yox’k,
Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennes
see, Texas, Utah and Washington.
VARSITY SCHEDULE
Sept. 20—Texas Tech at Dallas, 8
p.nx.
Sept. 27—Houston at Houston, 8
p.m.
Oct. 4—Missouri at College Sta
tion, 8 p.m.
Oct. 11—Maryland at College Park,
Md., 1:30 p.m.
Oct. 18.—TCU at College Station,
2 p.m.
Oct. 25—Baylor at Waco, 8 p.m.
Nov. 1—Arkansas at College Sta
tion, 8 p.m.
Nov. 8—SMU at Dallas, 2 p.m.
Nov. 15—Rice at Houston, 2 p.m.
Nov. 27—Texas at Austin, 2 p.m.
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