SEC Officials Hint at Future 'Horns Down' Penalties For Rest of Conference
Texas football heads to the SEC in 2024, and so does the infamous "Horns Down" mockery from opposing fan bases.
SEC officials told reporters Tuesday at SEC Media Days that the famous jab at the Longhorns' trademark "Hook'Em" gesture would not receive an unsportsmanlike conduct call unless it fell into one of three areas. The Big 12 took a strict stance on the motion with the conference, almost penalizing players for future games if they flashed the gesture when playing Texas.
John McDaid, the SEC’s coordinator of officials, wrote Tuesday in a statement that a potential unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for “Horns down” must fall into various categories for it to be viewed as an unsportsmanlike call.
"Is it taunting an opponent? Is it making a travesty of the game? Is it otherwise compromising our ability to manage the game?," McDaid said, per Brett McMurphy.
If the gesture were to fall into one of those categories, then the league would determine the extent of the punishment. Instead of officials’ lumping each offense with the same penalty, they will look at each situation on a case-by-case basis.
"There's a difference between a player giving a signal directly in the face of an opponent, as opposed to doing it with teammates celebrating after a touchdown or on the sideline," McDaid said. "To net all that out, every single occurrence is not an act of unsportsmanlike conduct."
The "Horns Down" sign has been a playful — and sometimes volatile — knock at the Longhorns for decades. The Big 12 began cracking down on teams using the hand signal most recently in 2018 when West Virginia Will Grier and David Sills were flagged for throwing up their fingers in a down motion in a 42-41 comeback win.
One of the more extensive arguments for members of the Big 12 was to figure out a finite answer to the issue. The conference would often be hit or miss on whether each version of the "Horns Down" gesture would count as a penalty. Prior to kickoff in the 2021 season, Big 12 director of officiating Greg Burks advised players from using the gesture to avoid penalties.
The "Horns Down" signal made headlines again in 2022 after Alabama's Nick Saban said he was "furious" following a game-winning field goal that Crimson Tide players flashed the fingers at fans despite playing sluggish on the road. Alabama wasn't fined because the rules only applied to Big 12 schools.
Texas and Oklahoma will join the SEC on July 1, 2024, making this a sensitive topic once more, though it seems the conference will let this play out so long as the notion is nothing more than a playful jab.
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