All the talk about Auburn fans giving Mississippi State a taste of its own artificial medicine by bringing their own cowbells to the MSU game? Auburn fan Ann Adams says it’s nothing new, and she decided to have a little show and tell at work Friday morning to prove it.
Adams’ brother, Billy Erwin, played wide receiver and safety for Auburn in the late 1960s under legendary cowbell hater Shug Jordan, who led the charge to have cowbells banned from SEC football games as artificial noisemakers after the din from fans ringing the bells repeatedly delayed Auburn’s 1974 game against Mississippi State in Jackson. But Shug had had problems with the Bulldogs’ tradition for years. And his players apparently knew it.
“Some of the Auburn players knew that Shug was not happy about those Mississippi State cowbells so a few of the Auburn players decided to get some ‘Auburn cowbells’,” Adams says. “When Mississippi State came to play at Auburn, they could do the same thing against Mississippi State.”
One of those players was her brother, Billy Erwin. Erwin died of cancer nine years ago. Adams says her family kept the cowbells he had on the sideline for at least one Auburn-Mississippi State game (likely the 1969 game in Auburn, which Auburn won 52-13).
“I brought these Auburn cowbells in to work with me this morning to explain why I have kept these cowbells for so many years,” Adams says.
She says she plans on watching Saturday’s game on TV with the cowbells hanging around her neck.
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More MSU stuff:
* Former AU quarterback Phil Gargis talks about the 1974 Auburn-Mississippi State game that led to cowbell ban
* Dana Carvey, Kevin Nealon were stoked to watch Auburn beat Mississippi State in 1986 ‘Saturday Night Live’ episode
* Mississippi State fan sues Auburn, SEC over confiscated cowbell; calls rule ‘unconstitutional’
* Shug: ‘The cowbells have no place in college football’
* That time Mississippi State accused Auburn punter Terry Daniel of filling footballs with helium
* Watch Terry Bowden’s press conference response to 1993 MSU allegations that Auburn inflated football with helium
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