As the icons of Aggie Spirit make their way onto the field at sporting events, spectators may have noticed just four Yell Leaders where there are usually five.
At the end of the first home football game against Nicholls State, construction science senior and yell leader Cooper Cox was injured during the traditional freshmen capture, in which the freshmen in the Corps of Cadets run onto the field and tackle the yell leaders to bring them to the victory yell practice held at Fish Pond.
After a trip to the hospital, medics said Cox had a broken collarbone. He was unable to lead yells for the last two games, but he was still able to speak at the Midnight Yell practices.
According to construction science senior and head yell leader Ian Moss, the prognosis for Cox will be about five to six weeks.
“We had gotten captured and we ran over to do victory yell practice, and I looked over and Cooper was pretty white,” Moss said. “I thought he was confused, I didn’t know that he was in pain. I noticed whenever he was doing yells … he couldn’t lift his arm up.”
On the day that Cox was injured, Moss said he didn’t know what was going on at first.
“Once we got there, I was waiting on Cooper to start and one of the other guys told me [he] wasn’t going to be there,” Moss said. “They said he had popped his shoulder and broke his collarbone.”
When he heard the news that Cox had broken his collarbone and would be out of commission for a period of time, Moss said he was instantly disappointed.
“He was a junior yell leader with me and it’s his senior year, we’ve been looking forward to this,” Moss said.
Regarding his current situation, Cox said he looks forward to what is to come.
“This has not been a setback, it has been a set up,” Cox said. “The Lord is teaching me things and molding my heart to be more like His. I have had amazing doctors and we are doing everything in our power to get me back as soon as possible.”
Cox said he will be supporting his teammates for the rest of this journey.
“In the meantime, the other guys will do what they do best at every Texas A&M athletic event they attend, yell loud,” Cox said. “I can’t wait to be one hundred percent again and yelling alongside the guys.”
Only four yell leaders have been energizing the crowds and leading Aggie yells for the past couple of games. Moss partially tore his hamstring last year and had to miss a game, and he said leading yells with four people has been done in the past.
“It’s been done and we did it last weekend where we only had four yell leaders and so we can do it,” Moss said. “It’s just I would rather have him down there with us. [We] have a lot of great communication and we do it together.”
Moss said that during the games, Cox brings an enthusiastic spirit that uplifts the other Yell Leaders on the field.
“When we’re down on the field, he brings a lot of energy,” Moss said. “He’s pretty energetic and has a lot of character when he’s running around and getting people fired up that you can’t really find anywhere else. He’s a lot of fun to watch down there.”
Even in a difficult season, Moss said they are striving to remain positive.
“You’ve got to focus on things you can control and we can’t control what happened, but we can control how we move forward,” Moss said. “And we just can’t wait to have him back.”
Moss said that Cox has remained confident and hopeful despite his circumstance.
“He constantly has a smile on his face and he knows God has purpose in this, and one of the first things he said to me was, ‘This too shall pass,’” Moss said. “And so he’s aware there’s purpose in this and that we’ll get through it on the other end … I honestly believe he’ll be made a better man because of it and he believes that too.”
Cox will still be on the sidelines cheering on the football team and his fellow Yell Leaders until he is able to take the field again.
“We’re trying to find a silver lining moving forward and he’s still part of the group,” Moss said. “He’s still helping us make decisions … we are going to continue to utilize him in any way that we can. The only thing that’s going to keep him out is he can’t put on his whites and he can’t lead yells, but other than that, he’s still a full-fledged yell leader.”