The university has claimed in its federal court filings that "The 12TH MAN Mark was initially adopted in 1922 as a remembrance of a student at Texas A&M, E. King Gill, and his spirit of readiness to serve Texas A&M’s football team in time of need."
In my original 2013 story, Gill's speech is linked where he explains the school's tradition as it is associated with him didn't begin until the 1939 radio play.
How does the school reconcile Gill's claims to the origins of the tradition with the school's claims in their federal trademark filing? The school absolutely has to defend 1922 as the year it started and that it was associated with Gill in 1922, but not a single TAMU alumnus, living or dead, has ever seen a scrap of paper prior to 1939 that associated E. King Gill with the schools 12th Man tradition.
In truth, the school called their fans in the stands the team's 12th Man at least as early as 1921. The 1922 date had no significance to the school's 12th Man tradition whatsoever until McQuillen's radio play when the Gill aspect was added.
All this would have been fine if the school hadn't represented in their trademark filing and in their court filing to defend the trademark that the McQuillen radio play fairy tale was true and accurate. The trademark was fraudulently obtained and the school's administrators have know of this for 27 years. It's a big no-no to file false statements in federal court filings and unless the school can explain how their court filings are true and Gill was a liar in his 1964 speech, John Sharp and his buddies have a BIG problem.
Read the story here:
http://www.hornsports.com/articles/featured1395317068/texas-am-and-the-12th-man-the-story-of-th-r3866