“Of all the states in the union to be triggered snowflakes over a hand gesture... You would think Texans, with their big swaggering belt buckles and hats, would be able to handle it. It’s absolutely pathetic that they've run and hid behind the Big 12 commissioner’s skirt and begged to be protected."
-- Clay Travis.
Before bitter rivals Texas and Oklahoma meet for the first time ever in the Big 12 Championship Game, the conference sent out a memo to Oklahoma warning the Sooners that they will be issued a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty if any player gives the ‘Horns Down’ gesture during the game.
The comedic taunt which obviously represents the notorious ‘Hook ‘Em Horns’ hand sign flipped upside down has always been a staple among the heated Red River Shootout, but the last five years the conference has tried to crack down on the signal after former Texas head coach Mack Brown infamously complained to the Big 12 that it was an extreme form of disrespect to the Longhorns fan base.
West Virginia quarterback Will Grier was issued a 15-yard penalty in the Mountaineers’ narrow victory in Austin earlier this month for doing the ‘Horns Down’ at the Texas student section after scoring the deciding two-point conversion in WVU's thrilling 42-41 road victory. The penalty was assessed on the ensuing kickoff and nearly cost West Virginia the game as the Longhorns had a short field to try and set up for the game-winning field goal. Earlier in the game, WVU wideout David Sills had already been flagged for doing the 'horns down' after scoring West Virginia's opening touchdown. WVU HC Dana Holgorsen wanted to know why officials were calling his team on something that had been done ’20,000 times before that with no penalty.'
Clay Travis thinks Texas’ scrupulous effort to get the innocuous gesture banned is downright pathetic and says Longhorns fans who have taken offense to the hand signs are complete cowards.
Listen to the full audio below as Clay calls it one of the dumbest controversies in college football history, especially coming in a state like Texas that has always prided itself on being some of the toughest SOB’s in the United States, only to whimper and cower because someone flipped two fingers upside down at them.