Texas

Behind the Toxic Backside of NIL Payouts, How Aggies Will Be Affected

Published

2 years ago

May 29, 2024

Behind the Toxic Backside of NIL Payouts, How Aggies Will Be Affected

Jackie Sherrill’s legacy is already long-cemented in Texas A&M Aggies history, but its lasting effects — and the pride that comes with it in Aggieland — could be in jeopardy.

Reading that isn’t something that Sherrill, nor any of past or present Aggie had ever hoped to see. In an ideal world, the simple beauty that made up Texas A&M’s No. 1 tradition, The 12th Man, wouldn’t ever be touched.

It couldn’t be.

Unfortunately, that’s proven to not be the case. After the NCAA reached a settlement with Arizona State swimmer Grant House four years after the suit was filed — a motion that’s set to improve athletes’ college experiences tenfold with name, image and likeness implications — there was, inevitably, fallout.

Initially, the NCAA’s settlement being approved by the Power 5 conferences was an overwhelmingly positive thing. In a way, it still is. But Texas A&M, as it usually is, is in a different position. One of the lesser-considered impacts is likely to impact it more than any other school in the country.

Here’s what that means.

With the House v. NCAA settlement, athletes are now able to receive direct compensation from their universities for their labor.

It’s a simple idea: players can benefit from royalties coming from their name, image and likeness on anything related to NCAA football video games and commercials and they can sign NIL deals with outside parties with no penalty. That wasn’t possible before.

In other words, being a collegiate athlete will likely begin to pay the bills.

And for players over the last 10 years who didn’t get that same luxury, they’ll be receiving some nice surprises in check format very soon. That likely includes former Aggies like Myles Garrett, Alex Caruso, and even Kellen Mond.

Oct 8, 2016; College Station, TX, USA; Texas A&M Aggies defensive lineman Myles Garrett (15) in action during the game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Kyle Field. The Aggies defeat the Volunteers 45-38 in overtime. / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The NCAA’s willingness to settle prevented it from having to shell out more than $4 billion to every athlete ever inconvenienced by being unable to profit from their name or their work. It admitted its mistakes and has given athletes the ability to treat their time making money for their respective conferences and the association as a true job.

But how will the money be distributed?

Well, each year, schools from every conference will set aside $20 million dollars to distribute to their players, courtesy of the conference. For the SEC, that’s almost pocket change. It’ll make that and more, so in a way it seems to be a win-win. Athletes get money, and the conference still profits.

That’s easier said than done for a mega conference like the SEC, but the disparity in earnings from schools in smaller conferences is another battle that will likely continue to be fought. It’s the reason that Texas and Oklahoma wanted to come to the SEC, and why the Pac-12 no longer exists.

It’s a brutal business. Between the transfer portal and now the athletes’ right to pay, college athletics will look wildly different from what it once was. Yet, it’s not even that part of it that puts the Aggies’ traditions in danger. It’s actually one of the miniscule details. The minutiae.

NOV. 18 — As Sam Mathews stood in place awaiting a kickoff during his Aggies’ rout of the Abilene Christian Wildcats late in the regular season, he was in a unique position.

Mathews’ jersey number was obvious. He proudly wore No. 12 in honor of “The 12th Man.” As the tale goes, E. King Gill was a spectator in the crowd in College Station during a home game in 1922. He was a former football player, but no longer suited up for the Aggies after leaving the team.

But, this particular afternoon, those same Aggies were depleted. Numerous injuries were threatning to put the game in forfeit territory for Texas A&M, and Gill was asked to suit up on the off chance that he’d be needed. So, he did.

Gill stood proudly on the sideline as the Aggies’ 12th Man. He never played, but that wasn’t the point.

He was ready.

Mathews was, too — only 102 years later. The circumstances looked vastly different, but he was the coveted walk-on player designated No. 12 by Texas A&M. Before him, it was a graduate named Connor Choate. Before Choate, it was Braden White and so forth.

That one player achieved a special status as a walk-on, but if you go back far enough, you reach Jackie Sherrill. And that was the year he had 11 walk-ons cover kickoffs for the entire season.

The 12th Man Kickoff Team lines up with their rally towels in hand prior to a kickoff. / Photo provided by Texas A&M Athletics.

Sherrill made history with his 12th Man Kickoff Team. He gave numerous Aggies a chance to proudly support their school in a way unique to them, and they were eternally grateful for it.

“Coach Sherrill made his mark on [so many] lives,” former 12th Man Kickoff Team member Brian Carpenter said of Sherrill. “There is nothing that any of us can do to truly give back to him as much as he has given to each of us, but all of us would die trying if asked.

“We are all in debt to him.”

With the House v. NCAA settlement, an 85-man roster cap is likely to be imposed. Texas A&M hasn’t utilized an entire walk-on kickoff team the way that Sherrill did in years, but it certainly is used to having many more than 85 players — many of them walk-ons.

That’s part of why current Aggies coach Mike Elko was up in arms upon learning that news in the aftermath of the settlement.

“I’m strongly against it,” he said. “I think it’s absolutely against college football, what it stands for and what it’s about. I think that would be a major problem, especially, when you look at the legacies of Texas A&M kids that are going to get the opportunity to play football at Texas A&M potentially taken away from them.

“That’s something’s really bad for the sport.”

He’s right. Taking away walk-ons in favor of profit — or rather, in the wake of profit — in turn takes away history. It takes away chances for Texas A&M students to support their Fightin’ Texas Aggies.

Sherrill might not be the coach for the Aggies anymore, but since he and R.C. Slocum left, the school has done nothing but honor them, just as it honors all of its traditions that make it what it is.

Now, that core piece of history and tradition is in danger.

So, yes. Texas A&M players, along with every other collegiate athlete across the country, will begin to get paid for their labor.

But for the Aggies, is that worth it?

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem up to them.

None of this really was.

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Texas

All is calm at the Texas Capitol, at least at holiday ornament time

Published

3 hours ago

December 17, 2025

Press Room

All is calm at the Texas Capitol, at least at holiday ornament time

AUSTIN — In a state where political fights rarely take a holiday, one small tradition offers a respite, wrapped in gold, glitter and goodwill.

Hanging from the boughs of Christmas trees across Texas, annual ornaments featuring the Texas State Capitol capture the beauty of the season and the history of the state, without the bluster and bile that typically characterize life under the pink dome.

Rep. Rafael Anchía, D-Dallas, has one on his tree for each year he’s served in the Legislature, where he was first sworn in a few weeks after Christmas in January 2005. Each season, he buys roughly 30 more to give away, a tradition he says transcends party labels.

“They are amazing. It’s the ideal Christmas gift,” he said, making his best holiday sales pitch. “A surefire way to please constituents and mothers-in-laws across the political spectrum.”

Nelda Laney, wife of then-House Speaker Pete Laney, launched the ornament tradition in 1996 with designs created by the Texas State Preservation Board, the steward of the Capitol and other historic state buildings.

Now, the board’s retail team spends at least two-thirds of the year overseeing the annual design, according to the Texas Capitol Gift Shop website. The board runs three shops: one in the underground Capitol extension, one in the Bob Bullock Museum of Texas History and one in the Capitol Visitors’ Center on the south side of the grounds.

The 2025 Texas State Capitol Christmas ornament features a design that’s a throwback to the original design from 1996.

Texas State Capitol Gift Shop

Over the years, the team has produced dozens of iconic ornaments, made of metal or granite, in flat relief or 3D, some lit up, some mobile. The final designs range from shiny metal locomotives to intricately designed granite miniatures of the entire building.

The 2025 design — a view of the Capitol as seen from Congress Avenue in downtown Austin — is a throwback to the inaugural “First Edition” design in 1996, if modernized a bit.

The ornament shows the Capitol’s entire south face, decorated with holiday wreaths and Yaupon Holly swags wrapped around its columns, the board’s description says. The six flags that have flown over Texas appear on the south pediment, with both the Texas and U.S. flags flying above the entrance. The 1889 Great Walk, paved in a black-and-white checkerboard pattern, is flanked by a grand allée of trees, leading visitors inside.

Texas Capitol ornaments through the years

It’s one of dozens of designs that, over the years, have turned the Capitol ornament into a recognizable Lone Star collectible.

A wee statue of the Goddess of Liberty spinning inside golden rings covered in stars debuted in 2006. Three years later, it was black and gold, rectangular — the shape and feel of a tapestry — regarded as one of the more unique designs in the collection. Another from that era used a colorful disc depicting the six flags over Texas. The ornaments start at $25. The current design is fairly typical: Finished in 24-karat gold and 3.5 inches by 3.4 inches.

Older ornaments can be purchased in sets of miniatures. They are available online through the board. The money goes to the preservation board, a taxpayer-funded state agency that releases a new specialty Texas-themed ornament every year.

The ornament release has become a ritual for many, from Capitol employees to repeat customers who buy the ornament every year as gifts.

“A lot of people will come in and buy six because they give one to each family member every year,” said Lisa Gentry, shop manager. “Sometimes they buy the year of their child’s birth. There’s a lot who have a Texas tree, which is only the Texas ornaments that they’ve shopped for in our stores.”

Lawmakers as designers

Rep. Jessica González, D-Dallas, has the entire miniature collection and several annual ornaments from her four terms in office. Her favorite ornaments, she said, are the ones lawmakers design each Christmas to reflect their home districts. Those hang on the Texas House Christmas tree each season and aren’t for sale.

This year, she had two designed by Jesse Acosta and Alejandra Zendejas, co-founders of Pasos for Oak Cliff, a Dallas nonprofit that provides sneakers and other support services to underserved students.

“It’s a small but meaningful way to showcase the flavor of our community… a reminder that every district has its own voice,” González said.

On the consumer side, on a random Thursday two weeks before Christmas, the Capitol gift shop — next door to the building’s popular Capitol Grill — sold more than 300 of the shiny 2025 Texas Capitol keepsakes.

That one design. In one day. In just that one shop.

“People really love them,” Gentry said the following day, as more than 100 flew off her shelves before noon. “Today it’s been nonstop.”

All the trimmings of the 2025 Texas Capitol ornament

Design: South-facing view of the Capitol from Congress Avenue
Finish: 24-karat gold
Size: About 3.5 inches by 3.4 inches
Price: Starts at $25

Where they’re sold

Capitol gift shop (underground extension)
Bob Bullock Museum of Texas History
Capitol Visitors’ Center
Online through the Preservation Board

Where the money goes

Proceeds support the Texas State Preservation Board, a taxpayer-funded agency that maintains the Capitol and other historic buildings.

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Texas

Texas A&M is reportedly close to hiring its new defensive staffer

Published

15 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Texas A&M is reportedly close to hiring its new defensive staffer

The staff shake-up continues amid CFP preparation, as Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko is reportedly adding another to his staff.

Soon after the news that the Aggies were expecting to hire former Arkansas defensive coordinator Travis Williams, Matt Zenitz of 247Sports reported that former Rutgers co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Zach Sparber would be added to the staff in some capacity. Sparber is very familiar with new Texas A&M DC Lyle Hemphill, having worked with him at JMU and Duke.

It is an interesting hire, as similar to Travis Williams, Sparber is also coming off a defensive staff that was let go after bottom-of-the-conference defensive performances. However, before joining the staff at Rutgers, he helped James Madison’s team rank 21st nationally in scoring defense as the linebackers coach. While his official role has not yet been announced, his experience with Hemphill should help with continuity heading into next season.

No. 7-seed Texas A&M hosts the No. 10 Miami Hurricanes (10-2) in a CFP first-round game at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 20, at Kyle Field. The game can be viewed on ABC/ESPN.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Jarrett Johnson on X: @whosnextsports1.

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Texas

How to get tickets for #7 Texas A&M vs. #10 Miami in College Playoff 1st round

Published

1 day ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

How to get tickets for #7 Texas A&M vs. #10 Miami in College Playoff 1st round

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The 10th-ranked Miami Hurricanes hit the road for College Station for a Saturday afternoon matchup against the No. 7 Texas A&M Aggies in the first round of the College Football Playoff. The game is scheduled for noon ET (11 a.m. CT) with tickets still available to watch live.

How to get Texas A&M vs. Miami tickets for the best prices: Tickets for the Texas A&M vs. Miami playoff game are available on secondary markets Vivid Seats, StubHub, SeatGeek and Viagogo.

The lowest prices are as follows (as of Dec. 15):

Vivid Seats starting at $375
StubHub starting at $388
SeatGeek starting at $315
Viagogo starting at $345

The Aggies own the homefield advantage and are listed as 3.5-point betting favorites to play their way into the second round. Texas A&M won its first 11 straight games of the 2025 season before falling to rival No. 16 Texas (27-17) in its regular-season finale. The Aggies were battle-tested in going 7-1 in a Southeastern Conference that put five teams into the College Football Playoff field. They also join Miami as teams to beat Notre Dame this season, winning a 41-40 shootout back in Week 3.

#10 Miami (10-2) at #7 Texas A&M (11-1)

College Football Playoff 1st round

When: Saturday, Dec. 20 at noon ET (11 a.m. CT)
Where: Kyle Field, College Station, Texas
Tickets: Vivid Seats | StubHub | SeatGeek | Viagogo
TV channel: ABC/ESPN
Streaming on: FuboTV (free trial) | DirecTV (free trial) | SlingTV (low intro rate)

The Hurricanes’ 27-24 win over then-No. 6 Notre Dame was the best line entry on the team’s résumé as the third-place finisher in the messy Atlantic Coast Conference. Miami rattled off four straight wins to close the season and showed the kind of explosive scoring offense required to stack up with Texas A&M, scoring 34-plus points in each of those four wins. The Canes closed the season with a 38-7 blowout win over then-No. 23 Pitt to strengthen their CFP case.

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