Hook 'em Horns - History

History

Harley Clark introduced the Hook 'em Horns sign in 1955. Clark was a member of the Tejas Club, Texas Cowboys, and head cheerleader at the university, a position that was elected by the student body. "It was second only in importance to the Texas governor," he jokes. Clark got the idea for the hand-sign from his colleagues Tom Butts and Henry Pitts, who had been casting shadows on the wall at the Texas Union. In addition, the "gig 'em" thumbs up hand signal created by archrival Texas A&M University twenty five years earlier was growing in popularity across the state and a similar hand signal was desired by The University of Texas. Clark showed an enthusiastic student body the sign a few nights later at a football pep rally at Gregory Gym. According to Neal Spelce, who attended the rally when he was a student at the university, "a lot of people didn't get it right at first," but it caught on rapidly from there. By the thousands, students extended an arm to create the now famous salute. The next day, at the Texas Longhorn vs. TCU football game, Clark stood in awe as the "Hook 'em Horns" hand sign surged from one side of the stadium to the other. UT went on to lose that game to the Jim Swink led TCU Horned Frogs 47 to 20. Ironically, the "Gig 'em Aggies" yell was created at a Midnight Yell practice at Texas A&M in 1930, also before a game against TCU.

Within a few years, the symbol was widely known to football fans across the state and country. Sports Illustrated featured the Hook 'em Horns symbol in front of a Texas pennant on the cover of their 10 September 1973 issue. That issue of the magazine highlighted the Texas football program as the best in the nation at that time. That title was usurped shortly thereafter as the Longhorns proceeded to lose their very next game (Miami-20, UT-13), followed a few weeks later by a drubbing from the University of Oklahoma (OU-52, UT-13).

Beginning in 2004, The University of Texas has featured the slogan in a television advertisement titled "Rallying Cry". The advertisement is one of nine ads that make up the "What Starts Here Changes the World" campaign, all of which are narrated by university alumnus Walter Cronkite. The narration for "Rallying Cry" is:

Is there a rallying cry for the thinkers and doers of tomorrow? A motto that sums up their passion for creativity and their pursuit of discovery? Sure there is: "Hook 'em, Horns". We're Texas. What starts here...changes the world.

The hand gesture is not featured in the advertisement, which shows an aerial view flying along Interstate 35, then over downtown Austin, Texas, past the Texas State Capitol and finally arriving at the Tower of the Main Building as Cronkite says the slogan. The advertisements are typically run during NCAA sporting events.