January 31, 2005

Brandeis Football: Catch the Fever

For a school that dropped football in 1959, Brandeis sure has been having quite a bit of gridiron success lately. The Boston Globe reports that Benny Friedman- an NFL pioneer in the 1920s was generally credited with popularizing the forward pass, and who later became the first and only football coach (1949-1959) in the history of my alma mater- is a strong candidate for posthumous induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He’s already in the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

And not only that, but we’re about to have a Super Bowl in which the owners of both teams have ‘deis ties: the Eagles’ Jeffrey Lurie got his PhD there, while the wife of Patriots owner Bob Kraft, Myra, is a graduate as well; both men are big donors. Remind me to tell you the story sometime about when, as a Justice reporter, I was yelled at and told to put my pen down by Mr. Kraft during a School of Economics speech, when I tried to ask him about the team’s then-impending, later-scuttled move to Hartford.

Posted by Stephen Silver at January 31, 2005 06:29 PM
Comments

leave it to Brandeis propaganda PR department to inform us that "Myra Kraft owns the Patriots along with her husband Bob" and to blatantly lift such lines as "truly Michael Vickian" from another source.

also .... like Jehuda knows what the NFL is, let alone who Tom Brady and Donovan McNabb are.

wow, during my years at 'deis the eagles went from a mediocre 10-6, to 7-9, to an abominable 3-13, back up to a slightly less abominable 5-11. and today they are in the Super Bowl. wow.

Posted by: LilB at January 31, 2005 11:14 PM

I am sure throwing the curve ball like that at Bob Kraft is something you would like to have back now given his success.

Posted by: Matt at February 1, 2005 08:27 PM

Hi Steve,

Don't know your vintage, but it do know that I was the Brandeis Football Team mascot in 1950 at the tender age of 6. I can vividly remember running out on to the field with the team at the start of the game dressing in blue and white top and skirt, sporting an owl motif on my top tee shirt 9or sweat shirt). Maybe there is a picture or two of those times worth posting.

Much later,as a 17 year old, I dated someone who he who had the distinction of having received a full scholarship to Brandeis (partially awarded for his footballing skills) the year it stopped having a team. (NB He got to keep the scholarship.)

Posted by: Sarah (Sally) at May 20, 2010 09:13 AM
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