Tag: Yale Bulldogs

Our Football Roots Run Deep.

It Started with the College Game.

If you’d been a die-hard football fan in Philly in the early 20th century — attending games at Franklin Field — you would have almost certainly not expected to spend Sunday’s routing for an NFL Franchise.

It would be 1924 before Philadelphia actually had an NFL Team and another eight years before the Eagles.

Philly still has the oldest stadium in operation today: Franklin Field.

Dating back to April 1895, Franklin Field first opened as a location for 5,000 fans to see the Penn Relays. No college football stadium in America has seen more.

On Friday night — in a college football matchup that was first played one hundred and forty-five years ago in 1879 and then renewed again after 1893 — Yale played the University of Penn. Yale has the lead in the series 51–37–1 and won the game 31–10 while stifling Penn’s offense. Quarterback Aiden Sayin left the game with an injury in the first quarter, giving way to Liam O’Brien and freshman Karson Siqueiros-Lasky.

For Garnett Valley High School football standout and Glen Mills, PA native Shane Reynolds — playing football for the Naval Academy isn’t just a chance to play — it’s a chance to serve; until this week — the Navy and Army were both ranked for the first time since 1960 and undefeated in football — a feat that hasn’t been done since 1945. While Army sat idol after a 45–28 win last week against East Carolina — #24 Navy was throttled by #12 Notre Dame — and saw Philly native Shane Reynolds gain only six yards of offense.

If you were a young football fan in Philly, you may have witnessed the 1899 Army-Navy Game at Franklin Field.

The City that’s hosted the most meetings of the last regular-season college football games each year?

Yup, it’s Philadelphia.

Ninety, to be exact.

PHOTO: William Bretzger/Delaware News Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK/Imagn Images