Texas A&M’s ‘Midnight Yell’ is college football’s most unique, and cringe tradition

There is nothing in college football like the “Midnight Yell.” Heck, there’s nothing in sports like the Midnight Yell. Texas A&M fans have gathered at midnight before each home game to conduct a tradition that’s beloved by the Aggie faithful, and mocked into oblivion by everyone else. It truly looks and sounds like something from a comedy sketch, and unless you’re a part of the school, well, it’s just plain weird.

To understand the Midnight Yell you really just need to see it. Essentially a group of “Yell Leaders” take turns giving speeches that are supposed to be burns, but often come off more like your least-funny friend trying their hand at standup. In particular the Aggies’ yell before facing Appalachian State in 2022 is renowned not just for being one of the worst routines in modern history, but also preempted one of the most stunning losses in the school’s history, as No. 6 ranked Texas A&M lost to the visitors when nobody predicted it.

Along with these “jokes” comes another part of the tradition: “The Fable,” which is an extended story made up by the Yell Leaders, which routinely ends with a joke at the expense of the visiting team, normally mocking their intelligence. With humor about the level of a low-tier dad joke, it’s incredible that thousands of people pack Kyle Field before every home game to experience Midnight Yell, but it’s also couched in an incredible story.

The “yell” existed at Texas A&M starting in 1913, when the school was an all-male military school. It was designed to gather together multiple companies on campus to lead a cheer before the football game. It wasn’t until 1932 that the tradition of the Midnight Yell began.

It’s unclear exactly how it began, but the story at A&M goes that two freshman students approached the Yell Leaders and asked about having their traditional yell at midnight, rather than during the day. It was agreed that the school wouldn’t allow them to organize a late night event, but nothing could stop students from gathering together at midnight without the administration’s knowledge.

The Texas A&M marching band arrived at the campus YMCA, joined by the Yell Leaders and a small group of students. Word got around, and soon enough the majority of the student body were outside the YMCA at midnight cheering the team and preparing for their major rivalry game against Texas. It was here the true “Midnight Yell” was born.

Now part of the school’s tapestry, Texas A&M fully endorses the Midnight Yell as part of their tradition. It’s now held inside Kyle Field, and begins with a large procession from the quadrangle, led by the band into the stadium. Yell Leaders have a specific uniform, which always involved denim overalls, but with individuals having the right to adorn their overalls with different patches, slogans, and other elements important to them as a way of showing their individuality.

The formalized, modern Midnight Yell has several distinct elements:

Like a lot of traditions it’s all based on whether or not you’re in that community or not. For Aggie fans it represents a tradition lasting over 100 years, and even though it’s antiquated — it’s part of the ethos of the school. Yell Leaders know that it might seem weird or corny from the outside, as do the fans, but continuing the tradition of the Midnight Yell is far more important that worrying about what people outside Texas A&M think.

For the rest of the college football world it’s the epitome of cringe. Something so easy to mock that all you need to do is post a video of the Yell Leaders practicing and the jokes speak for themselves, looking like Gene Kelly’s untalented farmer brother decided to make a musical about football.

It also should be noted that there have been occasions over the years where people have felt the fables at Midnight Yell cross the line. Most recently there was uproar over the Appalachian State fable, which referred to people in the Appalachian mountains as “hillbillies,” which led to the school claiming copyright on uploaded versions of the yell. While the school still posts each Yell on its official YouTube channel, comments have been closed since 2022 — which is seen as a reaction to the fallout from the now-infamous App State event.

We’re left with a tradition unlike anything else in sports. Loved by those who take part, reviled by everyone else. Is it the ultimate sign of hubris, or just school pride? It doesn’t matter in the end, because Midnight Yell isn’t going anywhere — and people will need to just deal with it.