Texas A&M University believes that, because of some game in 1922, only they should be able to recognize football fans as the 12th man.
The Seahawks retired the number 12 in 1984. A "12" flag flies over Qwest Field during home games. And Texas A&M doesn't cotton to it.
So, in that time-honored, go-get-em, shoot first, independent, manly Texas spirit, they are suing.
Pathetic. Are these the same people that fought the Alamo? Davy Crockett or Woody the Cowboy or J.R. Ewing or whoever must be rolling over in his grave.
Yesterday, the school filed an injunction seeking a restraining order that would prevent the Seahawks from using the slogan. There will be a hearing on Thursday.
Texas A&M (heavy emphasis on the "M") is, like Beavis, a Texas institution best known for lighting things on fire.
They have a federal trademark on the phrase "The 12th Man," (meaning the fans--football teams are 11 players each) which has been a school tradition since 1922. That's the year this inspiring tale occurred, according to the school's website:
...an underdog Aggie team was playing Centre College, then the nation's top ranked team. As the hard fought game wore on, and the Aggies dug deeply into their limited reserves, Coach Dana X. Bible remembered a squad man who was not in uniform. He had been up in the press box helping reporters identify players. His name was E. King Gill, and was a former football player who was only playing basketball. Gill was called from the stands, suited up, and stood ready throughout the rest of the game, which A&M finally won 22-14. When the game ended, E. King 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."
Wait...what? The guy didn't even play in the game? They base an entire tradition on a guy standing on a sideline? Hell, even John Kerry got shot, and everyone in Texas agrees he's a total coward. Not a lot positive going on in Texas A&M football apparently.
In fact, the Aggies have lots of football traditions--many of which are even more stupid than the 12th man. To wit:
Midnight Yell Practice: The entire student body gathers together to practice yelling. Yes, at Texas A&M, they can't count on their students to remember how to yell come gametime. And, yes, the most difficult math class at the school is "reckonin'."
"Gig 'em": This exhortation to the home team, with accompanying hand signal, is what fans hope their Aggies will do to the visiting team. "Gigging" is killing a frog with a spear. Classy.
Yell Leaders: At Texas A&M (which is co-ed), they don't have female cheerleaders, only male yell leaders, who direct chants with hand signals. We actually support this idea.
The Elephant Walk: Before the A&M/University of Texas game, A&M seniors walk around the campus, remembering all the good times, and the junior class pelts them with eggs.
Look for people who yell, frog hunters, and elephants to be the target of future lawsuits. And, with the help of certain newly empaneled judges, expect the school to come out on top.
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Wow. Dana X. Bible. Now that's a Texas name if I've ever seen one.
The A&M actually stands for Agricultural and Mechanical.
This was sent directly to my email:
Why can't the Seahawks and their fans come up with anything original? Why steal Texas A&M traditions? And to boot, Seattle columnists and bloggers like yourself have decided to stoop to insulting A&M, its fans, its traditions, and its football team. Are you incapable of simply debating the merits of the issue? Or is the fact that you guys not having a leg to stand on, historically or legally, making it difficult to make a coherant argument as to why stealing Texas A&M trademarks is ok?
But since you went down that road,,,,, Kiss my ass dude. And remind me of exactly what the Seahawks as a franchise have EVER done prior to 2006? Been the bitch of the rest of the old AFC West -- that is what. And what picture comes to mind when people think of the Seahawks? Bo Jackson running over Brian Bosworth.
Our traditions are not stupid. But you would not know that as an outsider. Then again, I would not expect a left-coast loon like yourself to be able to contemplate this idea of common sense. If you think Bush is stupid (per your blog link with stupid), then what would you propose smart would be? Al Gore? John Kerry? When are you guys going to finally hoist the Soviet flag over your capitals on the Pacific coast? That would pretty much render your little resume page useless wouldn't it.
And after a Super Bowl loss, followed shortly by Paul Allen's lawyers losing in court, it would be more than appropriate for you guys to retire 'Losers' and put that on your sissy flags.
This is not a matter of Texas A&M thinking they own the number 12. It is a matter of possible trademark infringement. Something that is apparently obvious to Paul Allen and the Seahawks as they have repeatedly offered Texas A&M money for the limited rights to 12th Man merchandise. But you fail to neglect mentioning that.
Go Steelers. Beat the theives from Seattle.
I'd be impressed if A&M could figure out who they should actually sue, since The Seahawks aren't actually using the phrase "12th man" for commercial purposes. It seems like other people who are using "12th man," and those would be the appropriate targets of a trademark suit.
I'm having flashbacks to the uproar over Donald Trump trademarking "You're fired."
While you do have some of our traditions wrong. I will not debate that point. The Seattle Seahawks in 1984 (becuase they needed something to make up for one of the losingest franchises the NFL has ever known)looked around the nation for someone's football program to emulate. Lo and behold they found Texas A&M. They saw their stadium emblazoned with "Home of the 12th Man" and said hey that would look cool on our stadium. Total rip off and trademark infringement.
As far as academics, your schools in Washington could only wish they had the engineering program of Texas A&M. Our University endowment is more than every school in Washington combined.
Keep your latte sippin, tree huggin, PETA lovin, flannel shirt, leg humping asses off our traditions.
And by the way, they are selling merchandise on the internet with the phrase "12th Man" and the official seahawks logo. A&M is not trying to prevent anyone from using the #12. Only the phrase 12th Man on official merchandise. You are free to call them the 12th Man. Just not the Franchise...... on official documents, stadium, shirts, buttons, flags. The number twelve is just fine.
Sent directly to my email
Initially I felt your inane comments barely deserved a response. Texas A&M hasn't contended they own the number 12. It's the "12th Man" that has been trademarked. After I read your whole article however I felt a need to respond.
To get to the heart of the matter. You've made a tactless referral to the Texas A&M bonfire which turned into on of the most heart wrenching tragedies in the history of collegiate America. You even made a link to the Bonfire page which includes the Bonfire Memorial. Maybe you are just ignorant of the tragedy of 1999 in which 12 students perished during the construction of the annual bonfire. I'm hoping this is the case. Maybe you should visit the website and take care to notice the design of the memorial and the inclusion of the meaning of the 12 and maybe then you could scratch the surface of the meaning of the 12th Man. It's much more than football it's the spirit of the school the whole of the student body refers to themselves as the 12th Man. The reason we stand even though we don't "play" is to show our support for each other and our willingness to step in should the need arise. The 12th man is about Pride, Honor, & Tradition which is why when the Seahawk organization came around offering us dollars for the use of the license we refused.
On another note your inclusion of The Alamo in this dissertation of Seattle superiority however just furthers your place as an insensitive person. To you it may just be a movie but to Texans it's a revered historical moment which helped form Texas and people died. So not only did you step on the toes of the Aggies everywhere you decided to step on the sensibilities of all Texans.
Robert W. Irby
Washington D.C.
Was the Seahawk's '12th Man' on the injured reserve list in every other year in Seattle football history?
screw y'all, you coffee-drinkin' yankees. go listen to nirvana or somethin'.
GIG 'EM AGS!!!!!!!!!
I hope it rains.
Why bother commenting? Washington is garbage in the realm of football. I grew up in Seattle and didn't think it was all that bad until I moved to SoCal,and then to school at Tex A&M. Seattle Seahawks are a horrible, horrible football team. As an Aggie alum, I suggest giving Seattle the 12th man...They need it so much more than we do, even with that joke of a coach Franchione. If possible we could round of fans from across the nation to donate to Seattle, like a, uh, food drive or something. It could be,"Seattle Seahawks, Hawky Stadium, Home of the 43rd Man(...And counting)...Or something to that effect.
Anyway Seth, stop throwing such a fit over your bad football team, honestly the 12th Man isn't that catchy so you really should stop bitching about it. Really, could it be that hard to think of something else that ultimately won't help your team look better while still losing?
-Matt
In Seattle, the 12th man flag symbolizes the strident, raucous fans that have stood by the Seahawks through thick and thin. 4/18/2007 the 12th man flag was flying at half staff. Bill Scott (aka Bill the Beerman) recently passed away. We will miss him. He is a legend in this neck of the woods. The art form that he made out of hocking beer in the 70s and 80s was well renowned and by the 90s he’d outgrown the confines of Seattle.
He worked for many teams in many leagues. He made guest appearances at NFL and NBA stadiums across the country, not only as the best beer vendor in the world, but also as a cheerleader. Wherever he went, whatever team he was shouting for, it was always Seattle that loved him and knew him best.
Seahawks fans have earned a reputation for being the loudest fans in the NFL. If that’s true, it's because of Bill the Beerman. The NFL has a noise rule that penalizes the home team for excessive crowd noise. Most people agree that it's a stupid rule, including the NFL referees who rarely enforce it. Still, it was because of us that such a rule was even considered in the first place. It might as well be called "the Kingdome rule." If the jet-like noise that rained down from the Kingdome bleachers was a problem, then it was a problem because of Bill the Beerman. He wasn't just the guy selling beer, he was the biggest fan of all. He was our cheerleader. Our bartender. Our friend.
What outsiders don’t realize is that making lots of noise at Seahawks games is a proud tradition that dates back to the early days when the Seahawks gave us little to shout about. It really is amazing that a team that struggled so much and for so long managed to garner so much enthusiasm from its fans. Back in those days, legendary quarterbacks like Plunkett, Bradshaw, and Fouts dreaded the roar of the blue thunder and the rolling explosion that was The Wave (very often started by Bill the Beerman). Sure, those guys usually kicked our butts, but we were loud as hell while they did it. As they drove their offenses up and down the field, Bill the Beerman roamed the stands inciting the crowd by example.
Back then Bill got paid to sell beer, not make a bunch of discouraged fans holler like raving lunatics. Nonetheless, Bill was our cheerleader and at his beckoning we became an insane mob of screaming idiots. It was beautiful. When he pointed at you, screaming "GO" at the top of your lungs was a visceral impulse reaction. Likewise, the people on the other side of the Kingdome would reply with an involuntary "Seahawks!"
I remember a time when Bill got four waves going simultaneously. He started us in one direction, then started us in the other. He did this twice before the original wave got back around. Up-down, up-down, up-down, screaming like our lives depended on it. I have no idea if we won that game, but we sure as hell made a lot of noise.
During those early days of Seahawks football, Bill never gave up and he never let us give up either. He was the original 12th man. He gave birth to the tradition. Bill the Beerman was a voice that could not be ignored. A voice so loud it will never die. His voice will be heard forever on no less than 10 Sundays every year. Every time the crowd at Seahawks Stadium starts to roar, Bill’s voice will be heard.
Whether it's
“Go! .... Seahawks!”
or
“Freeze your teeth. Give your tongue a sleigh ride. Beer, bubbly, beautiful, ice-cold beer!"
Cheers to you Beerman!