Top 10 facts associated with this Texas A&M building:
#10: Built in 1914, same as Sherman Hall at Austin College.
#9: Oldest building at Texas A&M, same as Sherman Hall at Austin College.
#8: Found next to the Simpson Drill Field, the site of the 1898 AC-A&M football game (first Aggie game at home against a collegiate opponent)
#7: Site of the office of Mason Lee (M.L.) Cashion Sr., 1927-1952 Director of Aggie Athletics & YMCA (Cashion Sr. came to A&M from Austin College)
#6: Location of the first Aggie Midnight Yell Practice in 1931, created by cadet J.U. Parker. Nicknamed “Two Gun Herman from Sherman,” Parker grew up in Sherman watching AC football at Cashion Field (named for M.L. Cashion Sr.).
#5: Witness to the 1931 birth of M.L. Cashion Sr.’s son, M.L. Cashion Jr. The younger Cashion spent the year 1939 rooting for his undefeated national champion Texas Aggies.
#4: Cashion Jr., the son of a Roo, quarterbacked A&M Consolidated HS in 1948. The QB of A&M Consolidated HS in 2018 was also the son of a Roo. John Fedora.
#3: Cashion Jr. became an NFL official thanks to assistance from a member of the 1939 Aggie national championship team. You may know him better as “Red” Cashion. Red was a College Station icon who officiated the 1986 Super Bowl.
#2: I took this photo myself just 8 days ago. I was in College Station for a meeting of the 100th anniversary committee of A&M Consolidated HS, and had to hurry back to Austin for a 2019 Super Bowl party. But I had written about the Cashions in November, and felt a desire to stop by, walk around, and snap the picture.
#1: I’m thankful I did. Red Cashion passed away yesterday at the age of 87. I only met him once, but his close friends and family all agree he was the most admirable of guys. The tributes have consistently reflected that today.
When you write about someone, there’s no avoiding the result. It’s gonna get a little bit personal. My best to the friends and family of Red Cashion.
