Aggies - enlighten me on E. King Gill - the original 12th man.

Y'all have a statue of a guy who was better at basketball than football and is best known for suiting up for a football game 'cuz the team was short - but NOT playing. Am I reading this correctly?

TIA

"But because of one inspirational act in Dallas on January 2, 1922, he eventually became the most revered Aggie of them all: The Twelfth Man.

On that day, Gill – a sophomore sub who had been released from the varsity team in November so he could concentrate on basketball – sat in the press box spotting for a Waco newspaper while the Aggies struggled against unbeaten Centre College in the Dixie Classic, which was a distant forerunner of the Cotton Bowl game.

As the A&M squad, which totaled 18 at the kickoff, began to dwindle with injuries a desperate call for help came from the bench. Moments later, dressed in a fallen teammate’s uniform, Gill walked from beneath the stands and into the pages of history - taking his place on the sideline, ready to battle fate for the Aggies.

He stood there all day… never needed, taking no physical part in A&M’s 22-14 upset victory.

Almost apologetically, Gill laughed about it years later, saying, “I really wish I could say I went in and scored the winning touchdown, because it would have made a much better story. But I didn’t, I just stood there.”

But as time passed, Gill’s act that day grew to the status of legend, and eventually came to symbolize the spirit of the Aggies."


wut???


LINK