Is TCU’s hand sign horns, or a claw? 10 things you need to know about the Horned Frogs
(Updated from a column published Nov. 13, 2009.)
Ten facts every Texan ought to know about Texas Christian University:
1. That frog isn’t a frog.
A horned frog is a Texas lizard.
It’s not a frog. Don’t ask.
(The “Horned Frog” hand sign used since 1980 shows the horned lizard’s “horns.” That is not a claw. Or a bunny rabbit.)
2. The TCU Cacti?
It could have been worse.
Students chose The Horned Frog as the school yearbook name in 1897 after professor Addison Clark Jr. told them to pick a Texas “plant, bird or animal.”
The yearbook manager wrote later that they chose horned frogs because the University of Texas yearbook had already claimed an obvious name: The Cactus.
3. Just ‘TCU,’ thanks.
Don’t make too big a deal out of the full name of TCU.
(TCU doesn’t.)
The sports teams go by the familiar initials. The seminary is next door.
4. Coaches’ quotes went viral.
TCU is sort of the Cradle of Old Sayings.
Championship coach Dutch Meyer is famous for saying, “Fight ’em till hell freezes over, then fight ’em on the ice.” That line dates to the Civil War.
But it was 1930s coach Francis Schmidt who originated one of the most durable sports quotes of all time.
When he was hired away by Ohio State, he repeated a line there that he first used here: “They put their pants on one leg at a time, same as we do.”
5. Frogs games used to be lonely.
True, TCU hasn’t always drawn big crowds.
In the 1960s, the stadium was less than half full for a game against Nebraska. Same for several home games in 1958, the last time the Horned Frogs made the Cotton Bowl.
In 1973, lightning damaged Amon G. Carter Stadium during a game — but nobody was hurt.
(Nobody was near the southwest stands where the lightning struck, Only 12,827 fans had paid to see the game against Rice.)
But that’s changed.
A 2009 game against Utah drew 50,307 fans, the first time TCU hosted ESPN College GameDay.
TCU has averaged 47,000 fans this season.
6. Desegregation came slowly.
The first Black Americans to play in Amon Carter Stadium were Penn State athletes in 1954. Rosey Grier and Lenny Moore would go on to become NFL stars.
It would be 1968 before TCU flanker Linzy Cole would break the color line.
(The basketball Horned Frogs already had star center James Cash, now a business professor emeritus at Harvard University.)
7. Sam. Just Sam.
The late TCU quarterback Sam Baugh is often called the greatest passer in football history.
He didn’t go by “Sammy.”
8. Fort Worth wore purple first.
Fort Worth wore purple before TCU.
Fort Worth High School opened in 1885 and chose purple and white as its colors. TCU brought the same colors when it moved here from Waco in 1910.
The original Fort Worth high school is now Paschal. In 1955, it moved from south of downtown to near TCU.
9. The Deadheads stopped here.
In 1971, the Grateful Dead played the basketball coliseum.
10. That red splash isn’t just a stripe.
Yes, horned lizards squirt blood from their eyes.
Fool around and find out.
This story was originally published November 18, 2022 at 5:32 AM.
