Let’s go… Magenta?

As the Harvard Football Team celebrates 150 years, let’s look back on their history!

The Harvard Football Team was founded in 1873, amidst a nationwide debate over what set of rules players would adhere to. The Crimson embraced “Boston Rules,” as the majority of students came from Boston prep schools playing this game.
Before the team was founded, there used to be an annual football game between the Freshman and Sophomore classes called “The Battle of The Delta,” which took place on the land Memorial Hall now sits on, previously called “The Delta.”
When the faculty outlawed this violent game in 1860, the students held a funeral, delivering a eulogy of the sport and burying a pigskin.
When the Harvard University Football Club was formed in December 1872, they played on the Cambridge Common, away from University oversight.
Their first official match was against McGill University in 1874.
In their first matchup, Harvard decidedly beat Yale in 1875,
The next year, Yale won.
The 1894 Game, known as the “Hampden Park Bloodbath” or “Springfield Massacre” ended with nine players being removed from the pitch due to extreme violence or injury, and resulted in no games for the next two years.
In 1894, the term “The Game” was officially coined to describe this annual meeting.
As of Fall 2022, Yale leads 68-61 in wins, with the teams tying eight times.
During the 1968 Game, Harvard came back from a 22-0 deficit to tie the game, leading The Crimson to pronounce “Harvard Beats Yale 29-29” the next day.
Actor Tommy Lee Jones played offensive lineman during that game.
Three Harvard Football players have won the Super Bowl:
John Dockery ’66 for the New York Jets in Super Bowl III
Matt Birk ’98 for the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII
And most recently, Cameron Brate ’14 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV
The football coaching staff totals 14 people, including Faculty Fellow Eric Nelson, who is the Robert M. Beren Professor of Government.
The Crimson coach is Tim Murphy, who has held his position since 1994.
Murphy holds the position “The Thomas Stephenson Family Head Coach for Harvard Football,” endowed by Thomas Stepohenson in 1994.
Stephenson played on the team, graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Business School, and also served as the U.S. Ambassador to Portugal from 2007-2009.
The Crimson were not always the Crimson—the original school color was Magenta. In 1858, the Harvard Crew team began wearing magenta handkerchiefs to distinguish themselves from competitors during regattas.
In 1875, the crew team was set to race Union College, but both schools wore magenta. This led Harvard to have a town hall meeting, ultimately deciding that the school’s color would be Crimson.
Harvard Stadium, built in 1903, pioneered the use of reinforced concrete.
It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987.
The Boston Patriots played their 1970 season in The Stadium, before moving to Foxborough and becoming the New England Patriots the following year.
Harvard Stadium was used to host soccer games during the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics.
During the short-lived Boston bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, Harvard Stadium was slated to host many events.
Harvard has technically won 12 national championships, but they only officially claim seven:
1890, beating Yale.
1898, tying with Princeton.
1899, again tying with Princeton.
1910, the first season the forward pass was allowed and the position of the Quarterback created.
1912, beating Penn State.
1913, tying with Auburn and the University of Chicago.
1919, beating Oregon in the 1920 Rose Bowl.
In 1874, Harvard, Yale, and Princeton shared the title, with only Yale and Princeton claiming their victories. Harvard’s other unclaimed years are 1875, 1901, 1908, and 1920.
Harvard has won the Ivy League Championship 17 times, second to Dartmouth’s and Penn’s leading records.
The term “Ivy League” allegedly comes from a meeting between Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia to determine the rules for their football games. The meeting of the four, written in roman numerals as IV, was soon called “Ivy.”