Texas A&M Aggies football

NCAAFootballSchool
TeamName = Texas A&M Aggies


ImageSize = 100
HeadCoachDisplay = Mike Sherman
HeadCoachLink = Mike Sherman
HeadCoachYear = 1st
HCWins = 2
HCLosses = 4
HCTies =
Stadium = Kyle Field
StadCapacity = 83,002
StadSurface = Natural Grass
ConferenceDisplay= Big 12
Location = College Station, Texas
ConferenceLink = Big 12 Conference
ConfDivision = South
FirstYear = 1894
AthlDirectorDisp = Bill Byrne
AthlDirectorLink = Bill Byrne
WebsiteName = AggieAthletics.com
WebsiteURL = http://www.aggieathletics.com/index.php?SID=MFB
ATWins = 657
ATLosses = 429
ATTies = 48
ATPercentage = 0.579
BowlWins = 13
BowlLosses = 17
BowlTies = 0
NatlTitles = 1
ConfTitles = 19
Heismans = 1
AllAmericans = 41
Color1 = Maroon
Color1Hex = 500000
Color2 = White
Color2Hex = FFFFFF
FightSong = Aggie War Hymn
MascotDisplay = Reveille
MascotLink = Reveille (Texas A&M)
MarchingBand = Fightin' Texas Aggie Band
PagFreeLabel = Rivals
PagFreeValue = Texas Longhorns

The Texas A&M Aggies football team represents Texas A&M University in Division I FBS college football. The team is also referred to as the Texas Aggies, indicating the state in which the school is located rather than the university the players attend. The Aggies have competed in the South Division of Big 12 Conference since the conference's inception in 1996. Texas A&M football has earned one national title and 19 conference titles since becoming a charter member in the Southwest Conference in 1915. The team plays all home games at Kyle Field, an 83,002-person capacity outdoor stadium on the university campus. Mike Sherman, a former NFL coach, currently coaches the team.

History

The 1921 game between the University of Texas and the Aggies was the first ever live, play-by-play broadcast of a college football game. [ [http://www.wtaw.com/history.php Cannot find server ] ]

Conference affiliations

*1894–1902: Independent
*1903–1908: Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
*1909–1911: Independent
*1912–1914: Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
*1913–1917: Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association
*1915–1995: Southwest Conference
*1996–present: Big 12 Conference (South Division)

Championships

National championships

Texas A&M has earned one wire national title, voted #1 by the AP Poll after the 1939 season. Southern California also claims this title through the Dickinson System; [cite press release|url=http://usctrojans.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/072604aaa.html|title=USC Now Will Recognize Its 1939 Football Team As A National Champion Trojan have 10 national champs in the sport.|date=2004-07-26] however, USC finished #3 in the final AP Poll. [cite web|url=http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/national_championships/poll_results.php?year=1939|title=AP and Coaches Final Season Polls|publisher=College Football Data Warehouse|accessdate=2008-01-05] While 1939 is the only national title that Texas A&M recognizes, retroactive polls have awarded Texas A&M national titles in 1917, 1919, and 1927. The 1917 team finished 8-0-0 and unscored upon, earning a retroactive national title by 1st-N-Goal and James Howell. [cite web|url=http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/national_championships/yearly_results.php?year=1917|title=1917 National Championships|publisher=College Football Data Warehouse|accessdate=2008-01-05] The 1919 team finished 10-0-0 and unscored upon, earning a retroactive national title by ten selectors, including the Billingsley Report and National Championship Foundation. [cite web|url=http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/national_championships/yearly_results.php?year=1919|title=1919 National Championships|publisher=College Football Data Warehouse|accessdate=2008-01-05] . The 1927 team finished 8-0-1, with a tie against TCU in Fort Worth, Texas, earning a retroactive national title by the Sagarin Rating and the Sagarin ELO-Chess. [ [http://www.ncaa.org/library/records/football/football_records_book/2007/2007_d1_football_records_book.pdf OFFICIAL 2007 NCAA DIVISION I FOOTBALL RECORDS BOOK ] ]

Bowl history

Baylor Bears

The Aggies first played the Baylor Bears in 1899, and have competed with them annually since 1945. [cite press release|url=http://www.aggieathletics.com/sports/football/history/opp/baylor.html|title=All-Time Football Scores: Baylor|publisher=Texas A&M Athletics|accessdate=2008-03-10] The rivalry is nicknamed the Battle of the Brazos, a term coined after the Brazos River, which flows by the two schools. The two schools are only 90 miles (145 km) apart. A&M leads the series 65–30–9.cite web |url=http://www.aggieathletics.com/sports/football/history/opp/baylor.html |title=All-Time Football Scores:Baylor |accessdate=2007-03-25 |publisher=Texas A&M Athletics]

Player accomplishments

Individual awards

Texas A&M has three national trophy winners. Dat Nguyen won the Lombardi Award and Chuck Bednarik Award in 1998, while John David Crow won the Heisman Trophy in 1958.

*Heisman Trophy:John Kimbrough, 5th place - 1939:John Kimbrough, runner-up - 1940:Marshall Robnett, 9th place - 1940:John David Crow, winner - 1957:Darren Lewis, T-8th place - 1990:Bucky Richardson, 10th place - 1991 *Chuck Bednarik Award - Defensive Player of the Year:Dat Nguyen, winner - 1998 *Dick Butkus Award - Top Linebacker:Aaron Wallace, semifinalist - 1989:Marcus Buckley, semifinalist - 1992:Antonio Armstrong, semifinalist - 1994:Reggie Brown, semifinalist - 1995:Keith Mitchell, semifinalist - 1995:Dat Nguyen, runner-up - 1998 *Jim Thorpe Award - Top Defensive Back:Kevin Smith, semifinalist - 1991:Patrick Bates, finalist - 1992:Aaron Glenn, runner-up - 1993

*Lombardi Award - Top Lineman or Linebacker:Ed Simonini, finalist - 1975:Robert Jackson, finalist - 1976:Jacob Green, semifinalist - 1979:Ray Childress, semifinalist - 1984:John Roper, semifinalist - 1986:Aaron Wallace, semifinalist - 1989:Sam Adams, runner-up - 1993:Brandon Mitchell, semifinalist - 1995:Dat Nguyen, winner - 1998 *Dave Rimington Trophy - Top Center:Seth McKinney, runner-up - 2001:Cody Wallace, finalist - 2007 [cite press release|url=http://www.aggieathletics.com/pressRelease.php?SID=MFB&PRID=13671|title=A&M’s Wallace Named Finalist for Rimington Trophy|publisher=Texas A&M Athletics|accessdate=2007-12-06|date=2007-11-28] *Davey O'Brien Award - Top Quarterback:Bucky Richardson, runner-up - 1991:Reggie McNeal, semifinalist - 2004 *Mosi Tatupu Award - Top Special Teams Player:Shane Lechler, finalist - 1998:Shane Lechler, semifinalist - 1999 *Lou Groza Award - Top Placekicker:Kyle Bryant, semifinalist - 1996:Kyle Bryant, semifinalist - 1997:Todd Pegram, semifinalist - 2004

Aggies in the NFL

As of 25 September 2008, 21 Aggies play in the NFL, [cite web|url=http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/college?letter=t|title=NFL Players By College - T|accessdate=2008-04-29] and 8 others serve as NFL coaches. [cite web|url=http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/college?letter=t|title=NFL Players By College - T|publisher=ESPN|accessdate=2008-01-29] cite web|title=Aggies In The NFL|publisher=Texas A&M University Athletic Department|year=2007|url=http://www.aggieathletics.com/press/PDF/MFB_2007_12_25_1229-TAMUnotes07_PSU-Alamo.pdf|accessdate=2007-12-26|pages=5|format=PDF]

*Dennis Allen, Assistant Defensive Line Coach, New Orleans Saints *Martellus Bennett, TE, Dallas Cowboys *Rocky Bernard, DT, Seattle Seahawks *Red Bryant, DT, Seattle Seahawks *Melvin Bullitt, CB, Indianapolis Colts *Jason Carter, WR, Carolina Panthers *Corey Clark, OT, San Diego Chargers *Ron Edwards, DT, Kansas City Chiefs *Robert Ferguson, WR, Minnesota Vikings *Jerry Fontenot, Assistant Offensive Line Coach, Green Bay Packers *Aaron Glenn, CB, New Orleans Saints *Dante Hall, WR, St. Louis Rams *Geoff Hangartner, C, Carolina Panthers *Johnny Holland, Linebackers Coach, Houston Texans

*Johnny Jolly, DT, Green Bay Packers *Gary Kubiak, Head coach, Houston Texans *Shane Lechler, P, Oakland Raiders *Seth McKinney, OL, Cleveland Browns *Michael Montgomery, DL, Green Bay Packers *Don Muhlbach, DS, Detroit Lions *Dat Nguyen, Assistant Linebackers Coach/Defensive Quality Control, Dallas Cowboys *Alan Reuber, OL, San Francisco 49ers *Gary Reynolds, Offensive Assistant Coach/Quality Control, Seattle Seahawks *Zerick Rollins, Linebackers Coach, Seattle Seahawks *Shawn Slocum, Assistant Special Teams/Linebackers coach, Green Bay Packers *Cody Wallace, OL, San Francisco 49ers *Ty Warren, DL, New England Patriots *Pat Williams, DL, Minnesota Vikings *Billy Yates, OL, New England Patriots

Hall of Fame

College Football Hall of Fame coaches

Football traditions

12th Man

Aggie football fans call themselves the 12th Man, meaning they are there to support the 11 players on the field. To further symbolize their "readiness, desire, and enthusiasm," the entire student body stands throughout the game.cite web |url = http://aggietraditions.tamu.edu/12thman.shtml |title = Twelfth Man |accessdate = 2006-12-31 |date = |publisher = Texas A&M University ] In a further show of respect, the students step "off the wood" (step off the bleachers onto the concrete) whenever a player is injured or when the band plays the "Aggie War Hymn" or "The Spirit of Aggieland". [The bleachers in Kyle Field were originally made of wood. Although they now are made of aluminum, "off the wood" is still commonly used to mean "get off the bleachers".] citation|last=Ivey|first=Tommi|title=Aggies should not walk on A&M seal|newspaper=The Battalion|date=October 19, 2005|url=http://media.www.thebatt.com/media/storage/paper657/news/2005/11/09/Opinion/Aggies.Should.Not.Walk.On.Am.Seal-1050633.shtml|accessdate=2007-08-20]

Seniors wearing either their Senior boots or Aggie Rings are also encouraged to join the "Boot Line." As the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band leaves the field after their half-time performances, seniors line up at the north end of Kyle Field to welcome the team back onto the field for the second half.citation|last=Hartsell|first=Jeff|title=Citadel punter returns home for A&M game|newspaper=Charleston Post and Courier|date=August 29, 2006|url=http://www.aggiesports.com/stories/082906/football_20060829037.php|accessdate=2007-08-20]

The tradition began in Dallas on January 2, 1922, at the Dixie Classic, the forerunner of the Cotton Bowl. A&M played defending national champion Centre College in the first post-season game in the southwest. In this hard fought game, which produced national publicity, an underdog Aggie team was slowly defeating a team which had allowed fewer than 6 points per game. The first half produced so many injuries for A&M that Coach D. X. Bible feared he wouldn’t have enough men to finish the game. At that moment, he called into the Aggie section of the stands for E. King Gill, a student who had left football after the regular season to play basketball. Gill, who was spotting players for a Waco newspaper and was not in football uniform, donned the uniform of injured player Heine Weir and stood on the sidelines to await his turn. Although he did not actually play in the game, his readiness to play symbolized the willingness of all Aggies to support their team to the point of actually entering the game. When the game ended in a 22-14 Aggie victory, Gill was the only man left standing on the sidelines for the Aggies. Gill later said, "I wish I could say that I went in and ran for the winning touchdown, but I did not. I simply stood by in case my team needed me."cite web|last=Cook|first=Beano|title=Ten Days That Shook the Sport|publisher=Espn.Com|url=http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2615391|date=October 8, 2006|accessdate=2007-07-26]

In the 1980s, the tradition was expanded as coach Jackie Sherrill created the 12th Man squad. Composed solely of walk-on (non-scholarship) players, the squad would take the field for special teams' performances. This squad never allowed a kickoff return for a touchdown. Sherrill's successor, R. C. Slocum, amended the tradition in the 1990s to allow one walk-on player, wearing the No. 12 jersey, to take the field for special teams' plays. The player is chosen based on the level of determination and hard work shown in practices. Coach Dennis Franchione has continued Slocum's model, while also keeping an all-walk-on kickoff team that played three times in the 2006 season.citation|last=Heater|first=Jay|title=LaMantia A&M's main 12th Man|newspaper=Oakland Tribune|date=December 27, 2006|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20061227/ai_n17077154|accessdate=2007-07-26]

Bonfire

Aggie Bonfire was a long-standing tradition at Texas A&M University as part of a college rivalry with the University of Texas at Austin, known as t.u. by Texas A&M students. For ninety years, Texas A&M students built and burned a large bonfire on campus each fall. Known within the Aggie community simply as Bonfire, the annual fall event symbolized the students' "burning desire to beat the hell outta t.u."citation|last=Smith|first=Jonathan M.|date=2007|title=The Texas Aggie Bonfire: A Conservative Reading of Regional Narratives, Traditional Practices, and a Paradoxical Place|newspaper=Annals of the Association of American Geographers|pages=182-201|url=http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/action/showFullText?submitFullText=Full+Text+HTML&doi=10.1111%2Fj.1467-8306.2007.00530.x&cookieSet=1#Two%20Southern%20Narratives|accessdate=2007-08-15] The bonfire was traditionally lit around Thanksgiving in conjunction with the festivities surrounding the annual game between the schools.citation | last = Bernstein | first = Alan | title = Aggie Bonfire holds distinction as Texas symbol | newspaper= The Houston Chronicle | date = November 18, 1999 | url =http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/special/bonfire/386353.html | accessdate = 2007-02-28 ]

The first on-campus Aggie Bonfire was burned in 1909, and the tradition continued for the next 90 years.citation | last = Bernstein | first = Alan | title = Aggie Bonfire holds distinction as Texas symbol | newspaper= The Houston Chronicle | date = November 18, 1999 | url =http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/special/bonfire/386353.html | accessdate = 2007-02-28 ] For almost two decades, Bonfire was constructed from debris and pieces of wood that Aggies "found," including lumber intended for a dormitory that students appropriated in 1912.cite web | title = Vanities of the Bonfire | publisher = American Scientist | date = November - December 2000 | url =http://www.americanscientist.org/template/AssetDetail/assetid/23826/page/2;jsessionid=aaa5LVFO | accessdate = 2007-02-28 ] The event became school-sanctioned in 1936, and, for the first time, students were provided with axes, saws, and trucks and pointed towards a grove of dead trees on the edge of town. In the following years the Bonfire became more elaborate, and in 1967 the flames could be seen convert|25|mi|km|-1|lk=on away. In 1969, the stack set the world record at convert|111|ft|m|-1|lk=on tall.cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/books/it/1999/12/08/bonfire/index.html|title=Memories of an Aggie bonfire boy |publisher=Salon.com|accessdate=2007-08-14]

In 1978, Bonfire shifted to a wedding-cake style, in which upper stacks of logs were wedged on top of lower stacks. The structure was built around a fortified centerpole, made from two telephone poles. Although tradition stated that if Bonfire burned through midnight A&M would win the following day's game, with the introduction of the wedding cake design Bonfire began to fall very quickly, sometimes burning for only 30 or 45 minutes.citation|last=Burka|first=Paul|title=The Aggie Bonfire Tragedy|newspaper=Texas Monthly|date=April 2000|page=116|edition=Vol. 28, Issue 4]

At 2:42 AM on November 18, 1999, the partially completed Aggie Bonfire, standing convert|40|ft|m|-1|sp=us tall and consisting of about 5000 logs, collapsed during construction. Of the 58 students and former students working on the stack, 12 were killed and 27 others were injured.cite web | last = Cook | first = John Lee, Jr. | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Bonfire Collapse | work = | publisher = U.S. Department of Homeland Security | date = | url =http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/downloads/pdf/publications/tr-133-508.pdf | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-03-03 ] On November 25, 1999, the date that Bonfire would have burned, Aggies instead held a vigil and remembrance ceremony. Over 40,000 people, including former President George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara and then-Texas governor George W. Bush and his wife Laura, lit candles and observed up to two hours of silence at the site of the Bonfire collapse.citation | last = Whitmarsch | first = Geneva| title = Thousands Mourn Fallen Aggies | newspaper = The Bryan-College Station Eagle | date = November 26, 1999 | url = http://www.theeagle.com/bonfire/storyarchive/november1999/261199a.htm | accessdate = 2007-02-28 ] The Bonfire Memorial was officially dedicated on November 18, 2004.citation | last = Mfon | first = Tosin| title = A&M remembers bonfire tragedy | newspaper=The Daily Texan | url =http://media.www.dailytexanonline.com/media/storage/paper410/news/2004/11/19/TopStories/Am.Remembers.Bonfire.Tragedy-811494.shtml|date=November 19, 2004 | accessdate = 2007-03-03 ]

Bonfire was postponed until 2002 in order to restructure it to make it safer. Delays in the development of a safety plan and a high estimated cost (mainly due to liability insurance), led A&M president Ray Bowen to postpone Bonfire indefinitely.citation | last = Milloy | first = Ross E.| title = National Briefing | Southwest: Texas: Aggie President Cancels Bonfire | newspaper=The New York Times | url =http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E03E5DA113DF936A35751C0A9649C8B63|date=February 5, 2002 | accessdate = 2007-03-03 ] Despite the university's refusal to allow Bonfire to take place on campus, since 2002 a non-university sanctioned Bonfire has burned annually.citation | title = Off-campus Texas A&M bonfire brings out thousands | newspaper=The Badger Herald | url =http://badgerherald.com/news/2002/11/26/offcampus_texas_a_m_.php|date=November 26, 2002 | accessdate = 2007-03-03 ] Known as Student Bonfire, the off-campus event draws between 8,000 and 15,000 fans.citation| last=Moghe|first=Sonia| title = Off-campus bonfire|newspaper=The Battalion | url =http://media.www.thebatt.com/media/storage/paper657/news/2005/11/17/News/OffCampus.Bonfire-1108094.shtml|date=November 17, 2005 | accessdate = 2007-03-03 ]

Fightin' Texas Aggie Band

The Fightin' Texas Aggie Band (also known as The Noble Men of Kyle or the Aggie Band) is the official marching band of Texas A&M University. Composed of over 400 men and women from the school's Corps of Cadets,cite web|title=The Fightin' Texas Aggie Band |publisher=AggieAthletics.com|url=http://www.aggieathletics.com/index2.php?&CAT=TRD&pageID=225|accessdate=2007-06-13] it is the largest military marching band in the world. The complex straight-line maneuvers, performed exclusively to traditional marches, are so complicated and precise that computer marching simulations say they cannot be performed.cite web| publisher=The Former Students Association|title= Traditions|url= http://www.aggieband.org/traditions.wmv|format=WMV|accessdate=2007-06-13]

Since its inception in 1894, its members eat together, sleep in the same dormitories, and practice up to forty hours per week on top of a full academic schedule. The Aggie Band performs at all home football games, some away games, and university and Corps functions throughout the year. Other events in which the band participated include inauguration parades for many United States Presidents and Texas Governors, major annual parades across the country, and the dedication ceremony for the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library.cite news|last=Foley|first=Sara|title=RVs, Texas A&M U. band to attend Bush's inauguration|publisher=The Battalion|date=1 January 2005| url=http://www.pbs.org/weta/washingtonweek/voices/200501/0118local0.html|accessdate=2007-06-14] cite web|title=About the Band|publisher=Aggieband.org|url=http://www.aggieband.org/visitors-about.php|accessdate=2007-06-13] cite book|year=1994|coauthors=Donald B. Powell and Mary Jo Powell|title=The Fightin' Texas Aggie Band (Centennial Series of the Association of Former Students, Texas A&M University)|publisher=Texas A&M University Press|ISBN=978-0890965955]

Midnight Yell Practice

Midnight Yell Practice is a pep rally usually held the night before a football game. If the football game is to be held at Kyle Field, midnight yell takes place the day of the football game at 12:00 a.m. If the football game is an away game, a yell is held on the Thursday night before at the Corps Arches on the Texas A&M campus, and Midnight Yell will be held in the city the game is being played. For example, the Midnight Yell for the annual game against the University of Texas at Austin is held on the steps of the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas.

Yell Leaders

Yell Leaders are five students who lead the crowd in yells during the games. The team consists of three seniors and two juniors elected by the student body. The Yell Leaders take the place of traditional "cheerleaders" and perform many of the same functions without the gymnastics and dance routines. They also participate in post-game activities such as being thrown in the Fish Pond if the team wins, or leading the student body in the singing of "The Twelfth Man" if the team loses.

References

External links

* [http://www.aggieathletics.com/ Aggie Athletics]
* [http://www.12thmanfoundation.com/ The 12th Man Foundation]
* [http://www.tamu.edu/ Texas A&M University]