12th Man (football) - History

History

The first recorded use of the term "twelfth man" was in the November 1912 edition of The Iowa Alumnus, an alumni publication of the University of Iowa (then known as State University of Iowa) in which E.A. McGowan described the 1903 game between Iowa and the University of Illinois. In his article, titled "The Twelfth Player" McGowan wrote: "The eleven men had done their best; but the twelfth man on the team (the loyal spirited Iowa rooter) had won the game for old S.U.I."

Nearly a decade later, the first recorded instance of the term "12th Man" referring to an individual was to denote E. King Gill and his actions in Dallas on 2 January 1922. At the Dixie Classic, the forerunner of the Cotton Bowl Classic, Texas A&M (then known as The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas) played defending national champion Centre College. In this hard fought game, which produced national publicity, an underdog Aggie team was slowly but surely defeating a team which boasted three All-Americans. During the game, A&M coach Dana X. Bible realized that one more injury would leave him without another backfield player to send into the game. Coach Bible remembered that Gill, an individual who had tried out for the squad but who “lacked the experience and ability to play for the varsity” had made the trip as a member of the school’s Corps of Cadets and was sitting with his friends in the stands. Bible sent for Gill and asked for him to suit up and be ready if needed. 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." Although he did not actually play in the game, his readiness to play was noted. As there were 11 men on the field, E. King Gill was the 12th Man, hence the term.

Other individuals have been know as the 12th Man of their team. In 1926, O.E. Curry of Marlin, Texas, the father of a former Vanderbilt football star killed in action during World War 1 was known as the "12th Man" of the Vanderbilt football team. In 1930, W. H. Adamson, Principal of Oak Cliff (Dallas) High School was known as the "12th Man" of the of the school's football team for the rousing pre-game speeches he would give to the players. Mike Mesco was a spectator at the 1934 Princeton-Dartmouth game who leapt from the stands to join the Dartmouth defensive line in a failed attempt to keep Princeton from scoring late in the game and was henceforth known as Dartmouth’s “12th Man.”

Just as the term "12th Man" was not used during the 1920s and 1930s to refer to one particular individual, it was not used exclusively to refer to one particular fan base. The December 18, 1938, Dallas Morning News said "Whether they play now on a team, used to play back in the day, follow the game closely or just quarterback from the grandstand occasionally, every football enthusiast well knows how much that twelfth man in the stands means to any football team. But that backing means unusually much in the traditional Thanksgiving game between the University of Texas and Texas A&M College. With an uncertain monotony that has long since made game forecasters exceedingly skittish, these two win where their twelfth men help most." Thus, at least in this instance, the term "12th Man" was used to to refer to the fan base of Texas A&M but also to that of the University of Texas, the then rival of Texas A&M.