Ben Haynes ’15

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Kyle Field.  A place that has shared everlasting memories with Texan families for almost a century.  A place that has seen a national championship team, two Heisman Trophy winners, and multiple conference titles. A place that allows Aggies to forget their problems for a day and come together to cheer on their team.  A place which will now host the biggest family of Fightin’ Texas Aggies ever.

Being a part of a strictly A&M-sided family all my life, I can tell you from experience that it is difficult being an Aggie football fan.  However, I cannot describe the feeling you get when you enter Kyle Field on a crisp, sunny Fall game day afternoon.  The stadium is not vibrant in anyway, the bench seats are not particularly comfortable, but something about Kyle Field just makes you feel at home.

Kyle Field, originally completed in 1927, was first given a “horseshoe shaped” seating arrangement.  Over the years, it transformed into three decks on both sidelines and the north end zone with bleacher seating on the south end zone.  By 2015, this stadium will exceed expectations and be completely closed in with three decks of seating wrapping around the entirety of the field.  Now 102,000 screaming Aggies will be cheering on their team, making it the biggest stadium in the state of Texas and the SEC.  It will sit behind Michigan Stadium (110,000) and Penn State’s Beaver Stadium (107,000) as the third biggest in college football.

$450,000,000 was spent to make this dream a reality, and it couldn’t have been purchased at a better time.  There is extreme excitement in the air for A&M football. The Aggies currently sit undefeated and atop the SEC-West standings while being only one year away from the completion of its biggest project yet, the new Kyle Field.  The future looks bright as Texas A&M head coach, Kevin Sumlin keeps bringing in four and five star recruits, making A&M one of the powerhouses of college football.

Now how did A&M raise this much money to afford such a project?  The answer is Johnny “Football” Manziel. This name has brought in millions because of his electric performances on the field.  Honestly, if Johnny had not won out the starting quarterback job his freshmen year, there would be no “newly improved” Kyle Field.