12th Man Magazine

Editor
Homer Jacobs

Contributing Writers
Rusty Burson
Jim Molony

Contributing Photographers
Kevin Bartram
Glen Johnson

Inside the Aggies | Q&A with Dante Hall | Older and Wiser

Inside the Aggies.

By Homer Jacobs

As some of the state's top football recruits looked on, the Texas Longhorns were in the middle of a 66-3 washout at the hands of the UCLA Bruins.

The floodgates officially opened - as did the stadium exits - in the second quarter with UCLA cruising to a 38-0 halftime lead. And then the rains came.

Oh, the September sun was shining, but the boos from the sparse crowd still left at Darrell K. Royal-Memorial Stadium rained down from the top of the stadium in torrents.

I presume, if I were a Longhorn player looking for any type of crowd support, the boos hit like a tidal wave smack in the face.

Two weeks later at Folsom Field in Boulder, the Colorado Buffaloes were floundering in front of a sellout crowd en route to a miracle 20-19 victory over Wyoming.

At halftime, the crowd honored the 1985 Bill McCartney-coached squad that had gone to a bowl game for the first time since 1977. Colorado quarterback John Hessler already had been booed in the first half, but then the fans really got nasty.

Despite Rick Neuheisel's 22-5 record at that point, the fans jeered the current coach and his players with these chants:

"Bring back Mac! Bring back Mac!" Nice touch, Buff fans.

And then there's Kyle Field, a place where the fans don't even boo the opposing team, much less the guys in the maroon and white.

Even during the 6-6 debacle of 1996, the boo birds rarely flapped their wings, if at all. There were some moans and groans during the first half of the Kansas State game with A&M trailing 20-3, but never an all-out boo-fest.

Texas A&M fans are so used to not booing that it doesn't really enter the mind on game day. And the restraint doesn't go unnoticed by the players.

"I just think that's the unique part about A&M - the fans and the whole 12th Man tradition," said junior strong safety Rich Coady. "They're behind us 100 percent. Hopefully, they know we're out there playing as hard as we can. We appreciate all the support they give us. Even when we're playing badly and they're still standing up and cheering, it does make a difference."

Coady could only shake his head when asked what it must have felt like to be a Longhorn at home when the fans had abandoned the stadium and the team at halftime.

"I know when you're out there playing as hard as you can, and things just aren't working out... and then to hear the home fans boo, it's hard," he said. "That's something you don't want to go through, and I'm glad at A&M we don't have to go through that. That just shows how unique and special this place is."

It's not as if A&M fans are angels, however, because they have been known to be harsh critics behind the scenes. Just ask Branndon Stewart and Corey Pullig about mail call each week.

And center Koby Hackradt could hear the whispers in class each week last fall

"A&M fans have been real loyal and supportive," he said. "The fans who come to the games, there are really some diehard Aggies. I guess some people were fair-weather when we had the 6-6 season. But for the most part, that's one of the reasons I came to A&M was because of the great fans and traditions. I went to Texas and a bunch of other places and watched them play on unofficial visits, and the atmosphere here was a lot different with the crowd standing up the whole time. Everything was pretty much positive."

But as the saying goes, if you're not going to say anything nice, don't say anything at all. The A&M fans, when they yell, usually do so with a positive slant.

And if they do feel like booing an official's call or the opponent, the hiss of the "horse laugh" packs a lot less sting than the standard Philadelphia-style boo.

As for recruiting efforts, the atmosphere at an A&M game is one of the top selling points for this football program. All it takes is one glance at the wide-eyed seniors in the letter jackets when the stands begin to sway to see how a crowd can make a lasting impression on a kid.

When 12th Man Magazine polls each incoming recruit after signing day about the reasons why he chose A&M, the standard answers always begin with: "I like the coaches, the players and the atmosphere."

Texas may not lose any recruits because of the booing that went on in the UCLA game, but it wasn't exactly the type of memory coach John Mackovic would like the next Ricky Williams to take home to ponder. Sometimes that type of incident can end up being the swaying factor for a kid torn between, for instance, the Aggies and Longhorns.

So the next time the Aggies are struggling in a game, and the urge to vent your displeasure overcomes you, take a step back and buckle to peer pressure.

Wait until the next good play and yell your guts out.

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