Love it or hate it, there is no denying that Texas fans are very passionate about college football. Over the past 70 years or so, their iconic hand sign of ‘horns up’ has become a symbol in college football that almost every fan recognizes as quickly as someone giving a thumbs up or holding up the number one.
With that, the ‘Hook’em Horns‘ has also become quite popular for opposing teams anytime they do something big against the Longhorns.
The Texas faithful have been very vocal and annoyed by it, resulting in penalties being thrown against the opposing team in some cases. But that was the Big 12, a league in which Texas pretty much got whatever it wanted. Will they get the same treatment in the SEC?
History of Horns Down
Hook ’em Horns started in 1955 in a game against TCU, when the cheerleaders tried to create shadow animals during a performance. The hand signal gained popularity and quickly became an iconic part of Texas Longhorn culture.
The symbol took off in a 1973 Sports Illustrated issue featuring the Texas Longhorns, with the ‘Hook ’em Horns’ on the front cover. As time has passed, the symbol has been used and celebrated perhaps more than any other symbol in college sports.
Horns Down goes back a while as well. Nobody knows when it started to become an anti-Texas symbol, but there is an image from 1963 where a photo was taken of a Texas Tech fan showing it in a game against Texas.
The symbol has been used for decades to mock or ridicule Texas, and the Longhorn faithful have vigorously resisted it.
Why Does Texas Get So Offended?
Chanting and mocking are very common in sports everywhere. Florida State fans will show the upside-down ‘U’ when beating Miami, and Big 10 fans will chant ‘SEC’ if beating down a high-profile SEC school. Opposing schools even show up in LDS missionary clothing when playing BYU (which is probably a step too far). Yet, for whatever reason, ‘Horns Down’ has caused the most issues.
The only reason Texas takes it so hard is the pride it takes in its program. Texas feels like the top brand in the country, and when they lose to a smaller school or a school filled with players who dreamed of playing at Texas, it feels like a little brother beating up on a big brother. Besides that, there is no real logical reason for Texas fans to get any more upset than any other fanbase that goes through the exact same scenario.
But Texas is no longer the dominant big brother anymore. They are equal in the SEC.
SEC Officials Clarify Penalty
While SEC Media days were going on, John McDaid, the SEC’s coordinator of officials, clarified the consequence for players who use the ‘Horns Down’ signal during a game. He shared the following:
“Unsportsmanlike conduct needs to fit 1 of 3 categories: Is it taunting an opponent? Is it making a travesty of the game? Is it otherwise compromising our ability to manage the game? There’s a difference b/w a player giving a signal directly in face of an opponent, as opposed to doing it w/teammates celebrating after a TD or on the sideline. To net all that out, every single occurrence is not an act of unsportsmanlike conduct.”
In other words, it will probably be allowed if a player doesn’t run up to an opposing player and show the sign to their face. So a player can catch a TD against the Longhorns, go up the cameras, and show the ‘horns down’ and be okay.
This is different the Big 12 policy that resulted in a “Unsportsmanlike” 15-yard penalty regardless of the situation.
SEC Schools May Resist ‘Horns Down’
There is a real possibility, however, that teams will still resist showing the ‘Horns Down’ symbol during a game. By showing the symbol, it, in a way, says that Texas is the bigger team. Think of it like a brother’s situation playing basketball. If a big brother makes a shot against the little brother, they are unlikely to mock them. He may get hyped up, but it is a personal celebration. If the little brother does the same thing, his first reaction is often to rub it on the older brother’s face.
In the Big 12, everyone knew Texas was the big brother. In the SEC, Texas is an equal, and teams want them to know that. Sure, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, or Mississippi State may do ‘Horns Down’, but I’d be shocked to see Georgia or Alabama do it.
