Harvard-Yale Veterans To Play The Game Again

In celebration of the 100th renewal of the Harvard-Yale football game, a touch football tournament will take place the day before among past members of varsity football teams at each school.

Stewart Shofner '79 has sent letters to captains of each Harvard and Yale team from the last '16 years, asking them to organize a seven-man team from the players of their senior year.

The 32 teams will play in "the first annual Harvard-Yale varsity touch football tournament" on Friday November 18, at New Haven.

Shofner, who played defensive end in the 1978 game, said he got inspiration for the game when a former classmate told him this year's game is the 100th meeting between the two teams.

He added that he wanted to avenge the four losses which his graduating class suffered to Yale. He notes that his was the only class since the 1880s to go winless in four attempts.

Notable alumni returning for Harvard are quarterbacks Jim Kubacki '76, the coach of the Crimson's freshman team, and Larry Brown '78, now a pitcher for the San Diego Padres' AAA farm team.

Returning for Yale are Calvin Hill, who went on to play for the Dallas Cowboys, and Brian Dowling, Yale's star quarterback, who also played in the NFL and became the model for Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury character, B.D.

According to Shofner, 14 of the 16 Harvard captains have responded to his letter and are organizing teams, while about half of the Yale captains are doing the same.

Shofner also said in a New York Times article Monday that "the pairings would be adjusted, if necessary, to help assure that the championship game is a Harvard-Yale matchup."

Some of the Harvard captains mentioned the difficulty in getting all the correspondence done before The Game. Ted DeMars '72 said he has not yet received any definite responses because he only heard from Shofner two weeks ago. Gary Farneti '70 said he had the same problem.

DcMars added, however, that since only several people are needed for a team, forming one should not be too hard.

Shofner said the tournament at this point is strictly for fun. But he added that he would be more than willing to welcome a sponsor.