It's been 25 years since the devastating bonfire collapse at Texas A&M that killed 12 people. Although time marches on, the memory of those who died lives on in their families and survivors. The college's former quarterback is taking a look back at the tragedy.
On November 18, 1999, the student body at Texas A&M were excited for the upcoming football game against the University of Texas. It was an annual tradition to light a towering bonfire each year in preparation for the game. It typically drew 70,000 people a year. The massive bonfire was made with more than 5,000 logs.
Unfortunately, it ended up toppling a week before the college planned to burn it. The logs collapsed on 12 people including several members of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets. Several members of the Texas A&M football team raced to the nearby bon fire to try to save their classmates.
During a recent interview with the Sports Flashback YouTube channel, quarterback Randy McCown reflected on the tragic moment.
Texas A&M Bonfire
"The reason why we were going out there is because we had heard that they're not using any equipment and they're all removing it by hand," McCown said. "We started moving logs and I'm just like, wow, this is crazy. I never would have thought 20 or 30 guys could do this. And so we just stayed there and helped them until they told us that that was all we could do. I can remember that week there was a level of pressure, but nobody was talking about it."
The Texas A&M quarterback also added, "And nobody ever came out and said, you know, let's win one for those guys. But everybody just knew. We don't know if this is going to be the cure-all, but we know this will help."
McCown remembered the pressure and stress of that time.
"I can remember that week there was a level of pressure, but nobody was talking about it," he said. "And nobody ever came out and said, you know, let's win one for those guys. But everybody just knew. We don't know if this is going to be the cure-all, but we know this will help."
Following the tragedy, Texas A&M got rid of bonfires at the college. But students still have unofficial ones.
