Shameless Texas reporters desperately tried to bait Aggie players at SEC Media Days and hilariously failed

Mike Elko and the Texas A&M Aggies took center stage yesterday afternoon at SEC Media Days, finally getting their turn to meet with and talk to the assembled press in Atlanta on the final day of the event. It was informative and helpful for the most part, but there was something that stuck out to fans and other media alike.

There was a certain outlet that was clearly attempting to coax a bombastic response out of the Aggie players and coaches. Mike Elko, during his time at the podium, was asked about previous comments regarding A&M being the flagship program in the state of Texas and whether he was thinking about the Longhorns when he said that— talk about a leading (and kind of desperate-sounding) question!

The most notable one of this series of questions, however, came during the press availability for Ar'maj Reed-Adams. The former Kansas OL is a leader both on and off the field for the Aggies and is not afraid to stand his ground and play with a mean streak— and maybe that's why this reporter thought he could get a good quote out of him.

What he got instead was a rather diplomatic answer— but it didn't stop this outlet from trying to make a mountain out of a molehill.

Texas fan site attempts to bait Aggie players, embarrass themselves when they get nothing

Here's the question and answer from the interchange:

Notice what he does and doesn't say. He says that he's not worried about one single player, but that the team has to play well. He's being asked about a game at the very end of the schedule— one that comes after trips to Notre Dame, LSU, and more. Of course he's not already considering matchups for that game!

That didn't stop the creation of a graphic, however! Apparently this is just that noteworthy!

Don't give away the game too easily, fellas! It might be obvious what you're doing!

Are we serious here? For those who remember what this guy is referencing, you'll know that these two situations are nothing alike. The Iowa State player all but directly called them out— in Reed-Adams' case, he was asked about two specific players and he didn't comment on them in particular at all!

Even former Longhorn players were shaking their heads at this transparent attempt to manufacture controversy:

As Imade says in the replies, the "eye rolls" that some have fixated on is clearly a response to the annoying question, not a reaction to thinking about Hill and Simmons.

David Nuno of TexAgs summed it up well:

Sometimes you just need to quit when you're ahead. This was embarrassing for Texas.