Nov

FIRST THANKSGIVING COLLEGE FOOTBALL

The First Thanksgiving "Foot-ball" Game

Wood engraving from Once a Week magazine depicts onfield action during a football match between Yale and Princeton, late 19th century. (Photo by Stock Montage/Getty Images)

On November 30, 1876, Yale defeated Princeton, 2-0, in
Hoboken, New Jersey in the first collegiate football game
played on Thanksgiving.

Nearly 1,000 fans attend the game, played in cold, rainy
weather. "The friends of both colleges mustered in good
force," the New York Times reports. "Several carriages
containing ladies were on the ground, and a goodly
number of Alumni were there to cheer the contestants."

The football was oval and made of leather, the Times noted,
"similar to those used in Rugby Union rules." The game
resembled rugby more than a present-day football game.

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