Shaquille O'Neal Made a Video for the Yellow Jackets Before the Battle of the Ax

Shaquille O'Neal has recorded a video backing the Denison Yellow Jackets ahead of the 128th Battle of the Ax.

"Sherman vs. Denison, the Battle of the Ax, the longest running rivalry in the great state of Texas," the Hall of Famer says in the message. "This is where legends are made."

He closes it the way a Denison crowd would want. "Yellow Jackets, y'all know what to do. Go kick some Bearcat butt. It's great to be a Yellow Jacket. Sting 'em."

How it happened

The video came together through a local DJ, Hollywood, who made the contact.

Celebrity endorsements of high school teams are not rare, but they usually attach to programs in large media markets. A Hall of Fame center recording a message for a Grayson County rivalry game is a different thing, and it travels a long way on a phone.

What he claims, and what we have not checked

O'Neal's script makes two factual assertions worth flagging as his rather than ours.

He says Denison is home to "the first round pick for the Seahawks, Jadarian Price." He also says Denison has won 12 of 13 games.

Both are statements read from a script by someone who does not live here, and this site has not independently verified either. They are reported as what he said.

The game

The Battle of the Ax is a Denison and Sherman fixture with a claim to being the oldest continuous high school rivalry in Texas, and this will be the 128th time the schools have played it.

Sources

https://www.kxii.com/2026/08/26/denison-gets-endorsement-shaquille-oneal-ahead-128th-battle-ax/