Joel Klatt on Horns Down controversy: 'If you don't like it? Win'

The conversation around the hand gesture of Horns Down has surrounded Texas over the past two weeks. Joel Klatt is wondering why, though, because it’s something that he doesn’t believe should truly matter to people, especially those in Austin, as much as it does.

Klatt addressed the controversy around the taunt during his show on Monday. He just doesn’t get why this specific one is somehow more sacred than the rest considering how often it comes up as an issue.

“I’m so sick of people being offended by Horns Down. This is ridiculous,” said Klatt.

“Like, why is this the only gesture in intercollegiate athletics that we’re so worried about?” Klatt asked. “There’s a lot of hand gestures that get made on the football field, on the basketball court that are a lot worse than horns down – a lot worse, don’t Google them if you know what I mean. And here we are always wasting time about Horns Down.”

However, Klatt does, in a sense, know why it comes up more than other jabs. It’s because the Big 12 Conference went out of its way with a ruling on it to deem it a penalty. That has added the extra layer to it but is an extra layer that will no longer be present once Texas makes the jump to the Southeastern Conference later this year.

“It’s one thing if you do it, like, right in the face as a taunt – just like anything as a taunt. I think it’s fair to penalize. But, in a lot of ways, the Big 12 kind of created this mess when they started to say, ‘We’re going to penalize horns down as an unsportsmanlike!'” Klatt said. “Like, why? That is so weak. That is so weak.

“Stop making a big deal out of it. By the way, the SEC is not making a big deal out of it. The SEC has said they will not penalize the gesture of Horns Down. Good! Good,” Klatt continued. “It’s only a thing because it was made a thing.”

This all started when UCF, after defeating Texas in a comeback in Austin, flashed the gesture as they headed to the handshake line. That led Rodney Terry to shout at them amidst the postgame proceedings and use words such as classless.

It then carried over into this past weekend at BYU. Some members of the Cougars’ student section wore a handful of t-shirts that spelled out the phrase of Horns Down rather than actually showing the gesture. Even so, the school then asked them to remove those shirts as well out of respect for Texas.

In Klatt’s opinion, he believes the sensitivity around this subject needs to disappear. It’s an external motion by external people which, in his mind, should hold little value if everyone’s focus is where it should be.

“Stop being so externally focused. That’s what I would tell Rodney Terry,” said Klatt. “There’s no reason to be externally focused.

“You should take it as a compliment. If someone goes out of their way to be focused on you rather than internally focused on themselves? You should take that as a compliment. That is a great compliment,” Klatt added. “That probably stems from some sort of jealousy on their part. Like, they want to be a part of that.”

Klatt, like some people, has grown tired of this conversation being in the news every so often. In the end, Horns Down is just another provocation that shouldn’t see any extra treatment when it does come up. However, if it does continue to annoy any fans down on The 40 Acres, he also provided a simple solution in order to eliminate it from use altogether.

“So someone flashes a Horns Down. Who cares?” Klatt asked.

“If you don’t like it? Win. Okay?” said Klatt. “If you don’t like it? Win.”