The “Horns down” penalty needs to go and the SEC Coordinator of Officials agrees

On day two of the SEC media days, the SEC Coordinator of Officials John McDaid fielded questions from the media including one that has loomed over college football since 2019.

For over six decades, teams playing against the Texas Longhorns have used the ‘Horns down’ gesture to mock their opponents.

Five years ago, the Big 12 created a rule that any player who used the Horns down gesture during a game would be issued an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Fans, players, and coaches were in uproar about how Texas football players were so soft that they needed to be protected from a hand gesture.

In Dallas, at the media days, McDaid was quickly asked what he thought about creating a similar penalty for the SEC now that the Longhorns are in the conference.

“There are less than the fingers on one of your hands that I can remember creating an unsportsmanlike conduct foul for using an opponent’s signal in a derogatory manner,” McDaid said.

“Contextually, it didn’t create taunting or it didn’t create a travesty to the game,” he added.

It’s past time for the penalty to be long gone.

I’m a Texas fan. I grew up in Austin. My first memory of football was when the cannon was shot after the Longhorns scored a touchdown at Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium.

I’m not an Oklahoma, Alabama, or Texas A&M fan saying this.

As a Horns fan, it’s a little embarrassing that a penalty was created around the Horns down gesture.

It’s just a signal, it’s not the middle finger or sexually explicit. McDaid was right when he said that it doesn’t create a travesty in the game.

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