""This," the cadet giving a tour of campus said, "is E. King Gill. A plaque explained that A&M football had so many injuries, down to 11 men, during a 1922 game against Centre College that it needed help from Gill, an Aggies basketball player. The former football player came out of the stands and waited on the sideline. Gill never got in the game."
"On a ride through campus two days before a home game against Florida, the 12th Man is hard to miss. It is written on parking barriers. On a student-athlete's entrance. On the stadium. In the name of a 501(c)(3) foundation. On the field along the sideline. Over a 40,000-person student section which, in an ode to Gill, never sits. There's even a 12th Man Wi-Fi."
"In 1982, Texas A&M coach Jackie Sherrill watched students work through the night stacking wood for the school's annual Aggie Bonfire before a game against Texas. Inspired by those volunteers, Sherrill had an idea for another way to put students to work: an all-walk-on unit that would be known as The 12th Man Kickoff Team. Sherrill advertised a tryout in A&M's student newspaper. More than 200 students showed up."
E. King Gill, an Aggies basketball player who came out of the stands during a 1922 game and waited on the sideline without entering play, inspired the 12th Man tradition. The 12th Man permeates Texas A&M campus: a 12-foot statue, signage, a 40,000-student sideline section that remains standing, a foundation, and even Wi‑Fi branding. In 1982, coach Jackie Sherrill translated student volunteerism into an organized all-walk-on kickoff unit, advertising tryouts that drew more than 200 students. The walk-on model became institutionalized at A&M and connects to the modern walk-on athlete, whose future has been clouded by a recent court settlement.
Read at ESPN.com
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