“Hump it, Ags!”

For the newbies unbeknownst to the phrase, you may think it’s some kind of weird, unwanted sexual innuendo. It’s not, I promise — let me explain.

When the clock strikes midnight the night before football game days, Aggie students, parents and guests come together at Kyle Field for the most infamous and unique tradition at Texas A&M: Midnight Yell.

Although Yell Practice originated in 1913, the first Midnight Yell was held in 1931 before the t.u game. Head Yell Leader and construction science senior Trevor Yelton said this famous tradition attracts many supporters and is meant to ignite the Aggie spirit.

“The crazy part is 10,000+ people show up at midnight, and that just shows the spirit and passion people have for this school,” Yelton said. “Essentially what it is, is a pep rally for the day of the game … What we do is yells. We don’t have cheers or anything at A&M; we have yells. And fortunately enough for us, everybody understands them. So as much as they might look weird to the outsider, people know how to do them and people know what they’re doing.”

Senior Yell Leader and philosophy senior Thomas Greve said this tradition has been remarkable since its origin. In the 1930s, a freshman in the Corps named Peanut Owens organized the first Midnight Yell, Greve said.

“It was the night before a game, and he wanted to get everybody together at the YMCA building to practice the yells as soon as it struck midnight,” Greve said. “He went to the current Yell Leaders at that time and they basically were like, ‘Look, we can’t officially approve this, but also, if you’re gonna do it, go ahead.’ … So he got everybody together, and then on the steps of the YMCA building, the first official Midnight Yell practice was held.”

Getting ready for Midnight Yell isn’t as quick and swift as some may think, junior Yell Leader and finance senior Jake Carter said, with preparation starting as early as the summer.

“The summer is when we write all of our speeches,” Carter said. “So all of our fables, the stories that we [use to] make fun of the other teams … I spent a lot of time this summer just sitting down and just writing through all different speeches. … People think we’re always practicing our yells, but really we don’t. We practice them a lot in the summer, but as a Yell Leader, you do them so much that it just becomes kind of second nature.”

The rush of adrenaline is not only felt by the participants but the Yell Leaders as well, Yelton said.

“We get in our overalls and we practice in our rooms,” Yelton said. “All people are in one room all together. Then we’ll walk over to the arches on the Quad of the Corps of Cadets, and then from there, we walk with our families and some other cadets and we walk from The Quad all the way to Kyle Field. It feels like a long walk, you’re going all the way to Kyle Field, and you’re getting all nervous and stuff, and it’s just building up and building up and building up and then you walk down the tunnel. The tradition is the head Yell Leader turns around and high fives everybody as they sprint out. That just opens the experience. Like it’s just — it’s electric.”

A first experience of Midnight Yell can feel foreign, Carter said, as his first time was an unfamiliar one but drew him in like no other.

“I’m a first-generation Aggie,” Carter said. “I had no idea about the Yell Leaders, Texas A&M, Midnight Yell practice — I didn’t know about any of that. When I first saw Midnight Yell practice, I was just like, ‘What is this? What are we doing at midnight?’ I didn’t understand it, but I was like, ‘This is incredibly cool.’ … Even more so now as a Yell Leader, there’s just no words to describe Midnight Yell.”

Greve said his favorite aspect of Midnight Yell is witnessing the fellowship of Aggies.

“Just the fact that [the] community is gathered,” Greve said. “Like it’s a Friday night in a college town. There are a lot of things that could be going on … but the fact that families, friends [and] peers are taking the time out of their night, it’s the end of the week, they’re exhausted, it’s the weekend, they want to party, and yet they’re coming to support their team and to support us and to support the 12th Man, that’s just incredible to me.”

Now, for the answer you’ve been waiting for: the true meaning of “Hump it, Ags.”

Essentially, this phrase signals the crowd to put their hands on their knees and lean forward to get their bodies in position to project for the yells, Yelton said.

“When the Yell Leaders were first created, it was just to get the crowd interacting in whatever way possible to do that,” Yelton said. “So the guys that were Yell Leaders were like, ‘Okay you guys bend over, that’s the Aggie engineer way to best project your voice.’”

A&M is so special that one can hardly explain it, Carter said.

“From the outside looking in, A&M as a whole is hard to understand,” Carter said. “People call Texas A&M unique, but it’s just the spirit of Aggieland and the culture here that makes A&M so special. You can judge us, you can say what you want, but until you come and truly experience it, and you go with a friend to Midnight Yell practice and you see what we’re about, then you’ll understand.”