(Pictured: The NFF will present commemorative footballs to Lafayette College and Lehigh University in recognition of their extraordinary 150th meeting as college football’s most-played and longest consecutive rivalry. Yankee Stadium in New York City will be the site of the historic match-up on Nov. 22, and the game will kickoff at 3:30 p.m. ET on the CBS Sports Network. / Photo Courtesy of Lafayette Athletics.)
IRVING, Texas (Nov. 20, 2014) – The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced today that it will present commemorative footballs to Lafayette College and Lehigh University in recognition of their extraordinary 150
th meeting as college football’s most-played and longest consecutive rivalry. Yankee Stadium in New York City will be the site of the historic match-up on Nov. 22, and the game will kickoff at 3:30 p.m. ET on the CBS Sports Network.
“America’s passion for football has been passed from generation to generation,” said NFF Chairman
Archie Manning. “And there is no better example of that passion than the intense rivalry between the Leopards and the Mountain Hawks. We are proud to salute Lehigh and Lafayette on reaching this historic milestone, and we proudly present Lehigh Athletics Director
Joe Sterrett and Lafayette Athletics Director
Bruce McCutcheon each with a commemorative football to mark this special occasion.”
The first football game in history occurred Nov. 6, 1869 between Rutgers and Princeton, and the first football game between Lafayette and Lehigh followed in 1884, just one year after standardized football rules were established. The Leopards and the Mountain Hawks would play twice a year from 1884-1895 with the exception of 1891, which saw the teams compete three times. An eligibility dispute placed the rivalry on a one-year hiatus in 1896, but the series resumed the following year, continuing every year since.
The schools continued to play twice a year from 1897 through 1901, settling on a one game per year schedule in 1902. During World War II, Lehigh and Lafayette met twice in both 1943 and 1944 due to wartime travel restrictions. Lafayette enters the 150
th meeting with a 77-67-5 lead in the series. Always an intensely competitive game, the teams have split the last 10 meetings.
College Football Hall of Fame players who battled in the contest included
Charlie Berry (Lafayette),
Vince “Pat” Pazzetti (Lehigh),
Charles “Babe” Rinehart (Lafayette),
Frank “Dutch” Schwab (Lafayette) and
George “Mike” Wilson (Lafayette). Three coaches in the College Football Hall of Fame graced the sidelines during the rivalry, all for Lafayette, including
Herb McCracken,
Edward “Hook” Mylin and
Jock Sutherland. Other notables with NFF ties who have appeared in the games include
F.M. Kirby, the 2000 NFF Gold Medal recipient and an NFF Board Member from 1982-2011, and
Joseph Calhoun (Lafayette), a 1982 NFF National Scholar-Athlete. Kirby played defensive and offensive end on the undefeated 1940 Lafayette football team.
Click here to learn more about the rivalry.
About The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame
Founded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame is a non-profit educational organization that runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. With 120 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, NFF programs include the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, the NFF Leadership Hall of Fame, the NFF Scholar-Athlete Awards presented by Fidelity Investments, the NFF High School Showcases, the NFF Hampshire Honor Society, the NFF Faculty Salute Initiative presented by Fidelity Investments, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Alumni Association, and scholarships of more than $1.3 million for college and high school scholar-athletes. The NFF also collaborates with the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) to release the FWAA-NFF Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll; awards The William V. Campbell Trophy
presented by Fidelity Investments and prominently displayed at its official home inside the New York Athletic Club; and bestows several other major awards at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner. NFF corporate partners include the Allstate Sugar Bowl, Fidelity Investments, Herff Jones, the Pasadena Tournament of Roses, the Sports Business Journal and Under Armour. Learn more at www.footballfoundation.org.
