DALLAS Move over Columbus Day, President·s Day and Groundhog
Day ... make room for another special holiday on the calendar · National
College Football Day.
The SBC Cotton Bowls Board of Directors has declared November 6th as
a national holiday. It·s our way of paying tribute to the great heritage
and tradition of college football, of which the Cotton Bowl has been a part
for 69 years.
Why November 6th?
Well, it was on that date, way back in 1869, that Rutgers and Princeton
squared off in a contest that was destined to become an American institution.
Nearly 100 spectators gathered around an empty field in New Brunswick,
N.J., to witness a sporting event unlike anything ever seen before. The
competition between Rutgers and Princeton was replete with surprise, strategy,
prodigies of determination and physical prowess,· to quote the words of
one player who participated in that first gridiron skirmish.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights defeated Princeton that afternoon, 6-4. However,
more importantly, those college athletes left a lasting legacy that would
evolve into the spectacle we know today as the game of football.
We wanted to do something special by designating a date and time when
we could salute a sport that we all love so much,· said Gayle M. Earls,
Chairman of the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association. ·Football has given Americans
from all walks of life so much pleasure and excitement through the years.
We felt it was time to step up and begin a celebration, even if we were
the only ones commemorating this important event in our nation·s history.·
To commemorate college footballs 135th birthday, the SBC Cotton Bowl
produced limited edition lapel pins and mailed them during the last week
of October to hundreds of coaches, athletic directors, university presidents,
sports publicists and media throughout the United States.
We asked our colleagues around the country to wear this lapel pin at
their games on November 6,· said Earls. ·That generated a lot of media attention
and got our campaign off and running by adding to the festive atmosphere
on college campuses.·
Will this become a holiday all of America will observe?
Who knows,· said Earls. ·But, I can assure you of one thing, around
the offices of the SBC Cotton Bowl, we will all be donning party hats and
displaying our lapel pins with pride every year on the first Saturday of
November!·