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What was the greatest moment in the 130-year history of the Texas–Texas A&M football rivalry? Was it Justin Tucker’s game-winning field goal in 2011? Was it the Aggies’ emotional win in 1999, just weeks after the Texas A&M bonfire tragedy? Or was it something off the field, a Thanksgiving Day memory that has more to do with family tradition and football on TV than winners and losers on the gridiron? Nearly every Texan has an answer. Texas Monthly asked a number of Aggies and Longhorns who experienced the rivalry up close to recall their own greatest moments. Their answers are below.
The most memorable, without a doubt, would’ve been ’99, the game after the bonfire disaster at Texas A&M. It was such a home tragedy when the bonfire fell and twelve of our students were killed. There was some talk about canceling the game. I actually called our president, weighed in with him, and I didn’t make the decision, but I did tell him that we should push through and play. I thought it’d be better to have students here with their friends. So I was really pleased that we played.
It might have been divine providence or whatever, but we won the game. I would have to give credit to Texas. Coach Mack Brown called me several times during that week. I think the Longhorn Band, who played “Amazing Grace” at halftime, was very respectful. There’s no game that compares to that in terms of meaning.
Django Walker, singer-songwriter and composer of “Texas Longhorn”
I remember being five or six years old, and my dad got invited out with Coach [Darrell K.] Royal to a game. That was my first time to see the stadium. It was Texas versus Texas A&M, and I just remember the energy. [It’s] probably still the best I’ve ever been around.
Major General Ted Hopgood, retired U.S. Marine Corps; Texas A&M Class of 1965 and former commandant of the Aggie corps of cadets
At the 1967 game, the Texas quarterback was Bill Bradley, who normally played very well but didn’t have it that day, and the Aggies won 10–7. I was delighted, thrilled, and just enjoyed every moment of that game. I was there with my wife, who was pregnant at the time with our first child, and that was a great moment to share with her. The game was sold out, so they put folding chairs on the track around Kyle Field, and our seats were in folding chairs, although I’m not sure either one of us sat down because it was so close. That’s my fondest memory of the Aggies winning over the University of Texas at Kyle Field.
U.S. Congressman Lloyd Doggett, UT Class of 1967
For decades, in our family and thousands of others, watching this game was as much a part of Thanksgiving as turkey and pecan pie. Long, long ago, before the stadium grew larger and our team grew stronger, I was part of the Knothole Kids—Austin public school students, who got end zone tickets for a dollar or less to see this big game and others. While wishing this year’s game was in Austin on Thanksgiving Day, I will be glued to the game as a lifelong Longhorn with an emphasis on those key words of “Texas Fight”: “And it’s goodbye to A&M.”
Tre Thomas, Texas Longhorns safety, 1993–1996
Texas–Texas A&M is a very homegrown rivalry. As players, you compete with a lot of these guys growing up and in high school—almost all of your existence. When you choose a college, it draws lines but there’s still that sense of familiarity among football players.
I remember when Bryant Westbrook knocked out Leeland McElroy during the 1995 game. The rivalry makes it fun to jab at the other side. Bottom line, A&M will always be UT’s baby brother.
Mark Berry, Texas Longhorns defensive back, 1988–1991
In my years as a starting defensive back, A&M usually got the better of us. My fifteen minutes of fame came during the 1990 rivalry game. We had A&M at home and this was for the Southwest Conference championship. We went back and forth with one another—it was a very competitive game. In the last minute of the the game, the Aggies essentially drove the ball down the field and scored a touchdown to make it 28–27, and they decided to go for a two-point conversion and the win.
On the pivotal play, I wanted them to run the ball to my side, which they did. The marquee running back for A&M, Darren “Tank” Lewis, was a big-time rock star and from Dallas, and I had to tackle him to stop the two-point conversion and preserve our lead. When I did, I became the toast of the town.
Ashley Gibbons, 2014 Texas graduate from a Texas A&M family
I grew up going to Kyle Field for football games. I went to A&M’s basketball camps. I remember when the bonfire fell; that was a huge deal. I remember having crushes on boys in elementary school and thinking, “Well I can’t like him because he likes UT.” Texas A&M was honestly the only school I was considering until my sophomore year of high school when I realized they did not have the major I wanted to study. That’s when I realized UT was more of a fit for me.
I didn’t get tickets to the 2011 game because I was a freshman, and I had been away from home since August, so I wanted to go home for Thanksgiving. My dad and I stayed up late watching, and my dad loves Aggie football. That’s number one to him. I remember it was all quiet and tense in the room and Justin Tucker kicked the winning field goal for UT. My dad just stood up, walked out the door, and turned off the lights without saying anything.
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