AUSTIN,Texas — Johnny Football isn’t just helping Texas A&M University on the football field.
The resurgence of Aggies football helped Texas A&M raise a record $740 million in donations during the past year. The Austin-American Statesman reported Monday that the fundraising haul exceeds the university’s previous high mark by nearly 70 percent.
It also dwarfed the more than $400 million raised by rival University of Texas during the same period.
Texas A&M Foundation president Ed Davis says the campus is enjoying more energy, thanks in part to the Aggies’ return as a college football power. Quarterback Johnny Manziel won the Heisman Trophy last year while leading Texas A&M to its best season in more than a decade.
Davis says a thriving Texas energy sector has also boosted donors’ fortunes.
