Texas
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.
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.
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.
A North Texas woman is apologizing to her neighborhood after being held hostage for more than 24 hours during a standoff that shut down a Providence Village subdivision and disrupted school bus service.
CBS News Texas obtained a post from the woman, who wrote, “I am so sorry, everyone, all of you have such wonderful families, and I’m sorry to bring this monster to us.”
Neighbors responded with support, telling her, “We are here for you,” and “Don’t be sorry, we were just so worried for you.”
Suspect faces multiple felony charges
Authorities said the woman was rescued by the FBI and SWAT after allegedly being held by 57‑year‑old Michael Miller. He faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, unlawful restraint, aggravated kidnapping, burglary of a habitation, and violation of bond/protective order.
Miller received bonds on all charges except aggravated kidnapping and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. His total bond on the remaining charges is $4.5 million.
Neighbors sheltered in place for more than a day
Residents of the Foree Ranch subdivision are now trying to return to normal, but many say the experience is still lingering.
Preston Turner said he walked into the situation unexpectedly.
“I went to leave my house roughly on Monday morning, around 1 a.m., to go help a friend out that was in need,” Turner said. “I opened my garage, and I was approached by two SWAT members, and they were telling me to hurry up and close my garage and that we could not leave the house.”
Turner, his wife and children spent the next 24-plus hours hosting neighbors who lived across the street from the victim’s home. He streamed the standoff live on TikTok until authorities asked him to stop for safety reasons.
“And once I got the stream going, her family was on the stream, and they were asking me to continue because they wanted to know what was going on. So, very concerned about her,” he said.
Turner said he could see when Miller was arrested and placed into an SUV before being taken to jail.
Families describe fear and uncertainty
Up the block, Ruby Condensa and her family sheltered in place as the hours dragged on.
“It went on for so long. Um, at one point, I honestly did not know what was going to happen after we hit the 20-hour mark and I woke up, and I heard them,” Condensa said.
Her nearly two‑year‑old son Kai is used to playing outside, and she believes the uncertainty added to his anxiety.
“Kai, he’s a baby. He doesn’t know, but I think that obviously it was a lot just being inside. And I know my anxious energy might’ve been a little on him because it was a scary situation. Um, if it was that scary for me, I can’t even imagine what her and her family went through.”
Community gives victim space, offers support
Neighbors chose not to visit the victim’s home on Wednesday, saying they wanted to give her space after the traumatic event. But they made clear they are ready to help.
“It’s really sad, and I feel for her, and I hope that she can heal from that,” Condensa said. “And I know that, um, our neighborhood has really rallied around her, and if she needs anything. I know a lot of us would be there to help her in whatever way she needs.”
ABILENE, Texas — A Florida truck driver has been charged with intoxication manslaughter after a crash at a rural intersection left a South Texas man dead, authorities said.
Miguel Angel Casanova, 68, of Saint Cloud, Florida, suffered minor injuries in the crash and was wearing a seatbelt, according to investigators. After receiving treatment at Hendrick North Emergency Care, he was arrested on the charge.
RELATED| Abilene man charged with Intoxicated Manslaughter
Authorities identified the victim as Adam Lee Reyna, 26, of Mission, Texas. Reyna, who was driving a 2019 Dodge Ram pickup, died at the scene and was pronounced dead by Justice of the Peace Mike McAuliffe. His seatbelt use was not immediately known.
According to a preliminary investigation, Casanova was traveling westbound on County Road 54 and approached a stop sign at the intersection with State Highway 351. Reyna was traveling northbound on the highway toward the same intersection.
RELATED| Christoval man indicted for Intoxication Manslaughter
Investigators said Casanova failed to yield at the stop sign, and the vehicles collided.
The impact caused Reyna’s pickup to catch fire, and it was destroyed, authorities said.
RELATED| Abilene man indicted for intoxication manslaughter
Further investigation determined Casanova was intoxicated due to an overdose of medication at the time of the crash.
The investigation remains ongoing.
DALLAS — Texas can require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public schools, a U.S. appeals court ruled Tuesday in a victory for conservatives who have long sought to incorporate more religion into classrooms.
The 9-8 decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals delivered a boost to backers of similar laws in Arkansas and Louisiana. Opponents have argued that hanging the Ten Commandments in classrooms proselytizes to students and amounts to religious indoctrination by the government.
In a lengthy majority opinion, the conservative-leaning appeals court in New Orleans rejected those arguments in Texas, saying the requirement does not step on the rights of parents or students.
“No child is made to recite the Commandments, believe them, or affirm their divine origin,” the ruling says.
The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups that challenged the Texas law on behalf of parents said in a statement that they anticipate appealing the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“The First Amendment safeguards the separation of church and state, and the freedom of families to choose how, when and if to provide their children with religious instruction. This decision tramples those rights,” they said in the statement.
The mandate is one of several fronts in Texas that opponents have fought over religion in classrooms. In 2024, the state approved optional Bible-infused curriculum for elementary schools, and a proposal set for a vote in June would add Bible stories to required reading lists in Texas classrooms.
The decision over the Ten Commandments law reverses a lower federal court ruling that had blocked about a dozen Texas school districts — including some of the state’s largest — from putting up the posters. The Texas law signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott took effect in September, marking the largest attempt in the nation to hang the Ten Commandments in public schools.
From the start, the law was met almost immediately by a mix of embrace and hesitation in Texas classrooms that educate the state’s 5.5 million public school students.
The mandate animated school board meetings, spun up guidance about what to say when students ask questions, and led to boxes of donated posters being dropped on the doorsteps of campuses statewide. Although the law only requires schools to hang the posters if donated, one suburban Dallas school district spent nearly $1,800 to print roughly 5,000 posters.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, called the ruling “a major victory for Texas and our moral values.”
“The Ten Commandments have had a profound impact on our nation, and it’s important that students learn from them every single day,” he said.
Tuesday’s ruling comes after the appeals court heard arguments in January in the Texas case and a similar case in Louisiana. In February, the court cleared the way for Louisiana to enforce its law requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
Republican Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said the Texas ruling “adopted our entire legal defense” of the law in her state. In Alabama, Republican Gov. Kay Ivey also signed a similar law earlier this month.
“Our law clearly was always constitutional, and I am grateful that the Fifth Circuit has now definitively agreed with us,” Murrill said in a statement posted to social media.
Judge Stephen A. Higginson, in a dissenting opinion joined by four others on the court, wrote that the framers of the Constitution “intended disestablishment of religion, above all to prevent large religious sects from using political power to impose their religion on others.”
“Yet Texas, like Louisiana, seeks to do just that, legislating that specific, politically chosen scripture be installed in every public-school classroom,” Higginson wrote.
The law says schools must put donated posters “in a conspicuous place” and requires the writing to be a size and typeface that is visible from anywhere in a classroom to a person with “average vision.” The displays must also be 16 inches wide and 20 inches tall.
Texas’ law easily passed the GOP-controlled Legislature and Republicans, including President Donald Trump, have backed posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
___
Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy contributed to this report from Honolulu, Hawaii.
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