Lee has now attended 74 editions of the Harvard-Yale rivalry, and he may have set a mark that will never be equalled. From his days as an undergraduate to the present, he has been an unwavering supporter. One man, however, is on a quest to unseat him.

“I don’t think that I, by any stretch of the imagination, will ever hit 74 games, nor do I want to,” Ervin said. “But Paul has a son, Jeffrey, who said, ‘Someday I’m going to beat my father.’”

Markus’ dedication to the program is also indicative of the overall dedication of older fans to the team. The pervasive feeling among current students and recent graduates is that the game is a social event first and a football game second, but fans who are at Harvard Stadium or the Yale Bowl solely for football are still well-represented.

Markus says he attends each of Harvard’s 10 games each season. He even dealt with a broken-down car en route to New Haven one year. Markus eventually hailed a cab just south of Boston, and after the driver nearly took a wrong turn that would have sent him to Cape Cod, he arrived in New Haven just in time for the game. Along with Lee, Markus has a compelling case for the team’s most loyal supporter.

“It’s something that I really enjoy doing, and it’s a chance to inject a little Harvard spirit,” Markus said. “I just hope it continues long after I’m gone.”

Maybe this flag custom is only an afterthought among the grand spectacle that is Harvard-Yale. But perhaps it is not just a coincidence that Harvard is 14-1 in the fifteen years that Markus has dutifully waved the Little Red Flag.

—Staff writer Jack Stockless can be reached at jack.stockless@thecrimson.com.