British paper mocked for calling Texas A&M a ‘military college’ in the ‘hinterlands’

Users of X, the social media platform previously know as Twitter, are ridiculing a British news outlet for calling Texas A&M a “military school in the Lone Star hinterlands.”

Newspaper The Guardian used the description in its review of Untold: Johnny Football, a Netflix documentary that traces the dramatic rise and fall of Johnny Manziel, a top NFL prospect while at A&M who transformed into a self-sabotaging flop. In the article, reporter Andrew Lawrence described Manziel as “football’s Charlie Sheen.”

While users of the X platform seemed to have little problem with Lawrence’s summation of the film, many derided his description of A&M when explaining the impact Manziel had during his time as the school’s star quarterback.

“(Johnny Manziel) also changed the economics at Texas A&M, a military school in the Lone Star State hinterlands that had recently jumped into the SEC — the top-level conference known for churning out future pros,” the article stated.

Texas Monthly contributing writer Forrest Wilder was quick to poke fun at the description in a Tuesday post on X.

“Lol at this description of Texas A&M in The Guardian (UK),” wrote Wilder, a University of Texas at Austin graduate.

Others were quick to dogpile.

“I’m dying, is this real!?!” user @rotheriv commented.

“Texas Army and Military, right?” @golfnz34me chimed in with a joking explanation of the A&M part of the university’s name stands for.

However, others didn’t think The Guardian was completely off base. User @AimlessFriend rated the description as “half true.”

Indeed, Texas A&M has a considerable military history. For example, it’s one of just six national senior colleges participating in the military Reserve’s Officers’ Training Corps program, according to the Texas A&M Foundation. The university also is known for its Corps of Cadets ROTC program.

Just the same, it’s easy to see why some think the term “military school” is best used to describe West Point. The jury is probably still out as to whether College Station qualifies as the “hinterlands,” though.

The Guardian’s description of Texas A&M is just the latest by blunder by a media organization trying to describe a well-known Texas location.

Realtor.com was heckled on social media earlier this year for calling San Antonio a town “just outside of Austin.” A 2021 New York Times story also drew scorn for describing New Braunfels, a city of nearly 100,000 people, as a “remote Texas town,” a statement later corrected to read an “outlying town.”

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This article appears in Aug 9-22, 2023.