It's an old common phrase for football fans in general. And by football I mean soccer, I guess american football adapted this term.
Traditionally, the first substitute player who fields when a member of the fielding side is injured. In Test matches, twelve players are named to a team prior to the match, with the final reduction to eleven occurring immediately prior to play commencing on the first day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12th_man_(football)#Texas_A.26M...