Just about an hour after the Denver Broncos pulled off a wild win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the NFL playoffs, someone had to rain on the parade. Denver was in a state of jubilation, and the cheers hadn't even died down when Texas A&M hopped into the fray all angry about something. That something was -- you guessed it -- the use of "12th Man."
FYI #Broncos, the 12th Man belongs to Texas A&M. We saw the flag today and will defend our trademark. #TAMU #gigem
— Jason Cook (@jason_cook) January 9, 2012
That's the Texas A&M VP of Marketing and Communications essentially threatening a lawsuit on Twitter almost immediately after the game ended. Again: A man I'm assumed is trained in public relations used Twitter to threaten an NFL team, moments after an absolutely enthralling nationally-televised game.
The 12th Man is trademarked by the Aggies, and that's fine. Seattle fans went through the same thing when the Aggies got all huffy about the Seahawks use of a 12th Man flag. It all seemed somewhat juvenile, but it's their phrase and is trademarked; rules are rules, after all.
But when the immediate reaction to seeing the Broncos using some kind of variation of the 12th Man is to jump on Twitter and make a threat? Not a good look -- especially for a high-ranking representative of the school. Next time, maybe do things the right way and contact the Broncos directly. It'll save some of the ridicule.
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