The following--an excerpt from the New Haven edition of the November 19, 1955 Harvard Crimson--describes Harvard's lone score in its 21-7 loss to the Bulldogs of Yale:
"Stahura threw still antoher pass. It went into the end zone, intended for Lewis. Lewis bobbled the ball, but before it fell to the soaked turf. Kennedy picked it up for the touch-down."
The split end who salvaged those seven points for the Crimson was Edward M. Kennedy '54, presently the senior Senator from Massachusetts.
As one might expect, Kennedy is not the only well-known personality to have participated in The Game or to have played Harvard football. Many have established themselves in state and national political circles, and some have gone on to careers in the National Football League.
Despite the years which have passed, the recollections and impressions of Harvard football and the team's annual battle with Yale remain with the people who later rose to some or a great degree of national recognition.
The competitiveness of Ivy League football, the importance of receiving a Harvard education instead of attending a school with a more recognized grid program, attitudes toward and treatment of athletes, and the drama and emotions of The Game are all still vivid memories for former Harvard gridders who made it big later on.
Current Cincinatti Bengal split end and punter Pat McInally '75, former New Orleans Saint placekicker Richie Szaro '71, former Massachusetts Governor Endicott Peabody '41, former U.S. Senator John Culver '54, former U.S. Congressman Hamilton Fish '10 and Kennedy all still recall what it meant to be a Crimson football player and a Harvard student. U.S. Senator William Proxmire (D-Wisc.). who played for the Elis--also remembers his experiences in The Game and as an Ivy League athlete.
Competition
Szaro--an economics major who later started for the Saints over a span of nearly a decade and is now an international trading consultant--contends that competing in the Ivy League did not and should not hinder an athlete's progress. "You don't need a locomotive to run into you to be good. I wouldn't be a better football player if I went to another school. I feel that individual development from a school like Harvard can be as good as if you came from U.C.L.A., Notre Dame or Michigan."
McInally--who was a receiver on the Harvard team and who currently leads the NFL in punting--also feels that playing at Harvard need not limit one's chances of excelling and turning professional. "Hey, Harvard didn't limit my chances of playing pro. It's totally up to the individual to prove himself."
Fish--a representative from the state of New York who served in the House of Representatives from the end of World War I through World War II--was during his 25 years of congressional tenure a major spokesman for the Democratic party. Recently, President Reagan--in commemoration of Veteran's Day--asked Fish to place a wreath on the tomb of the unknown soldier from World War I.
Known as one of the more skillful players in the early days of college football, Fish was named to several all-time, All-American squads. The former congressman played from 1907-1909, the golden era of Ivy League football, when Harvard played--and defeated--the Michigans of college athletics.
"Harvard and all football is a wonderfully competitive sport. A good football player is one that gets knocked down and gets up and fights harder," Fish says. "Football is a good game because it involves running. You use your legs all your life for walking. I'm alive at 93 and I think it's a result of football."
Fish, however, looks back to the good old days when Harvard--not Alabama--was the Crimson Tide: "Why, when I played, Harvard and other Ivy schools were the top teams in the country. Today, they are second rate. Most of the good players in the country came to Harvard, Yale and Dartmouth. But now we can't compete. Players from other schools outweigh Harvard people by 20 pounds per man."
Peabody--who was the governor of Massachusetts in the early '60s and is now practicing law in Washington, D.C.--agrees with Fish's assessment of the problems facing today's Ivy League gridders.
