San Antonio State Rep. Lyle Larson, who never misses an opportunity to express pride in his alma mater of Texas A&M, has introduced a bill in the 2019 Legislature to mandate that A&M and the University of Texas restore their football rivalry, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Larson says with fans and networks fascinated by 'rivalry games,' bringing regional contests like Washington vs. Washington State into national prominence, Texas can't just sit by and allow the classic rivalry for the ages to wither and die.
"Once we start playing this game, it will rise up and become one of those top rivalries across the country that everyone will look at," he told News Radio 1200 WOAI's Michael Board.
Texas and Texas A&M first played football against each other in 1915. In the nearly a century that the rivalry grew, Texas built a 76 to 37 edge.
But the teams stopped playing one another seven years ago, when A&M left the Big 12 for the Southeast Conference, and Larson says football in Texas, and Thanksgiving, haven't been the same since.
"It makes no sense that the University of Texas is playing Kansas and A&M is playing LSU for a Thanksgiving tradition," he said.
House Bill 412 would require that Texas A&M and the University of Texas meet annually for a nonconference game on the on the fourth Thursday, Friday, or Saturday of November each year.
“It's time for the folks in Austin and College Station to get in a room and make a deal to restore the rivalry,” said Larson. “Gig 'em and Hook 'em!”
IMAGE: GETTY