rmackman Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 Texas A&M unhappy Seattle fans called '12th man'Associated PressFORT WORTH -- The Seattle Seahawks are facing the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl, but they have an off-the-field battle brewing with Texas A&M. School officials are upset with the Seahawks' use of the "12th Man" theme to recognize their fan support. A&M has legal claims to the "12th Man" moniker, a school tradition that dates to the 1920s. Texas A&M contends the 12th man lives at Kyle Field, not in Seattle.The Seahawks have celebrated their fans as a "12th Man" since the 1980s, when they used to turn the now-demolished Kingdome into one of the NFL's loudest venues. The team retired the No. 12 in 1984. Now, a No. 12 flag waves atop the city's signature Space Needle and the team has raised a "12th Man" banner at their new stadium, Qwest Field. A&M's "12th Man" tradition started in 1922, when a student, E. King Gill, was called from the stands to suit up for the injury-depleted Aggies as they faced top-ranked Centre College. Gill never got in the game, but the Aggies won 22-14. The tradition has evolved into a campus-wide commitment to support the football team. Students stand for entire games at Kyle Field and at times, they join arms and sway in unison, causing the stadium to literally shake. A&M has twice registered trademarks for "The 12th Man" label -- in 1990 and 1996 -- that include entertainment services, "namely organizing and conducting intercollegiate sporting events," and products, such as caps, T-shirts, novelty buttons and jewelry. Athletics director Bill Byrne said this week he's received e-mails from A&M supporters complaining about the Seahawks' "brazen use of the 12th Man theme at their home playoff games." Byrne said A&M has contacted the Seahawks about the issue. He said he wrote the Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills in the past about halting their 12th man themes once the university made them aware of the trademark registrations. Byrne said Seattle, though, "has been slow-rolling us." Lance Lopes, the Seahawks' vice president of corporate partnerships/legal affairs, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram he would not comment on whether the team would meet A&M's request. "I will say this," Lopes told the newspaper. "Our fans have been the folks that have run with the 12th man. It has not been the organization itself. We raise a flag with a 12 on it, it doesn't say 12th man or anything like that. We retired the jersey No. 12 many, many years ago and we've always sort of kept it under that context. "But, in terms of this whole 12th man derivative, if you will, that's occurred in the mass media and the public here locally. It has not been generated by the organization, per se." But Steve Moore, A&M's chief marketing officer, said the school has seen Seahawks-themed "12th Man" merchandise and has no way to know whether the franchise itself is producing it. The team's pro shop is sold out of No. 12 replica game jerseys and No. 12 flags and a fan Web site -- SeaHawkers.org -- offers downloadable computer desktop wallpaper that reads: "At Home We are the 12th Man" and "On the Road We are the 12th Man." "In the normal course of action, once someone becomes aware of it and they understand that you have a registered trademark, normally they cease," said Steve Moore, A&M's chief marketing officer. "In this case, they have chosen not to, but we are still hopeful that they will, quite frankly." The university's last resort is to take the Seahawks to court, but Moore said A&M is not prepared to do that yet. "What we hope is that the normal course of action will work, and that they'll choose to recognize our ownership of the trademark," he said.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------My thought is...why don't they just play each other for it. Hehehehe....man that'd be fun to watch all the Texas A&M guys get splattered! "Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be eaten. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you'd better be running." - Unknown | Check out my articles on jerseys at Bacon Sports Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nwtrailtrekker Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 too bad so sad for the aggies. why can't two teams have '12th man'. hell i thought it was a universal term for the fan. i had no idea it was just here and texas a&m. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinMcD Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 The Bills have the 12th man on their wall of fame.Not just the Seahawks and Aggies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnderDogX Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 oh...and for the record I know own all rights to the word hamburger...anyone using it will face a law suit and or fines ....seriously..this is dumb...some things have no reason to have a copyright protection on them...this is one of them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cujo Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 The Bills have the 12th man on their wall of fame.Not just the Seahawks and Aggies Yeah, but #12 will always belong to Jim Kelly in Buffalo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmackman Posted January 28, 2006 Author Share Posted January 28, 2006 I'm going to copyright breathing. Anyone who does so without my permission is subject to fines. "Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be eaten. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you'd better be running." - Unknown | Check out my articles on jerseys at Bacon Sports Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJTank Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 I am tired of lawyers and frivilous lawsuits give me a friggen break 12th man is a unversial term for the fans in football, just like 6th man in basketball. www.sportsecyclopedia.com For the best in sports history go to the Sports E-Cyclopedia at http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainmaker17 Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 It's another classic case of Aggie overreaction. They need to go back to yell practice and work on their 'humps' and 'whoops' and all that other silly crap they do. Let this one go Gigs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaltimoreFan Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 Why are they doing this know right before the Seahawks go to their first Super Bowl? The article says Seattle has used this since the 80s, why not sue them then? Seriously this is ridiculous. They are just trying give Seattle bad media coverage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cujo Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 The Aggies should seriously be concerned with something else ... like beating the Longhorns at something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winghaz Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 I'm going to copyright breathing. Anyone who does so without my permission is subject to fines. Uh oh. I just breathed. Boy, am I in trouble now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winters in buffalo Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 The Bills have the 12th man on their wall of fame.Not just the Seahawks and Aggies Exactly. The Bills have used "12th man" for years, and it was prominent during their Super Bowl runs. Not a peep from A&M then. So, why now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmackman Posted January 28, 2006 Author Share Posted January 28, 2006 Probably because A&M is not very good now so they need attention. "Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be eaten. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you'd better be running." - Unknown | Check out my articles on jerseys at Bacon Sports Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilgump Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 Interesting how they wait till the seahawks get good and are in the super bowl to complain about it... Guess it goes that if you suck, you can have the 12th man all you want lol. The World Basketball Championship, the Davis Cup, Ryder Cup, Iraq: Every day there's further proof that we, as a nation, are not very good at international competition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFoA Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 Eh, this is ridiculous. Texas A&M needs to do something constructive, like recruit so they can get out of the Big 12 mediocrity booth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmr Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 Texas A&M does need to do something, but alas the top five things I want them to do I can't say here in this forum. Still bitter, but I digress, Bryan/College Station, a.k.a. Aggieland. for those who ever never been there you are lucky, for those who have I am truly sorry. A&M has a very big problem when it comes to reality and logic. This "myth" of the 12th Man is infamous, yet the accounts all differ, if you ask any aggie, they beat the defending national champs, yet they know not the name of the other college that was the home team. Now, Centre College was neither the defending champ not went on to win the championship that year, so where "powerhouse" comes into play I do not know. Related note a qucik search for "Centre College" reveals nothing about football, none the less ever being a "powerhouse."In conclusion, come the aggieland get brainwashed, drink natty light and join the brownshirtsdmr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sacker12 Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 The Bills have the 12th man on their wall of fame.Not just the Seahawks and Aggies Yeah, but #12 will always belong to Jim Kelly in Buffalo. Even though there may be some that say that it belongs to Joe Ferguson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnWis97 Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 This is lame. I like the Aggie's 12th man tradition, but as was said above the Seahawks retired the #12 years ago. Either way saying the 6th man, 7th man, 12th man, etc. is common and nobody needs to have ownership of it. Though it may not be documented A&M probably got the idea from elsewhere too... Disclaimer: If this comment is about an NBA uniform from 2017-2018 or later, do not constitute a lack of acknowledgement of the corporate logo to mean anything other than "the corporate logo is terrible and makes the uniform significantly worse." BADGERS TWINS VIKINGS TIMBERWOLVES WILD POTD (Shared) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Admiral Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 We retired #1, because the fans are #1! ♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewYawkSeahawk Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 and a fan Web site -- SeaHawkers.org -- offers downloadable computer desktop wallpaper that reads: "At Home We are the 12th Man" and "On the Road We are the 12th Man." AWESOME! <- in a sarcastic way!My designs get mentioned in this BS Article.... yet no one from Texas A&M contacted me with their claim!I did those wallpapers 4 years ago.... before the Seahawkers were even using the flag with the #12.I took the designs down, since the site is officially affiliated with the team, and I figured I would rather just wait till the resolution.... www.briandoakes.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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