Robb Hirsch

Robb Hirsch, the 119th Captain of the Harvard Crimson, will step onto that vestigial plot of grass across the river for the last time today in a crimson uniform.

Upon his sturdy 5'11", 195-pound frame, he will bear the hopes of a team and a college that yearn for victory again. Victory, after two straight years of losing to the foul foe from New Haven. Victory, after posting a lamentable 2-7 record this season.

A win would redeem this season.

Hirsch knows it. He feels the pressure like everybody else, but he is calm--intense but calm, a trait that has earned the respect of his teammates and coaches. He is ready to charge the thin blue line for the last time in his career.

"Every game each week is big for us," Hirsch says, "but it does have a special significance for me and for this team in particular. This is our last hurrah, and we have yet to play the way I think we are very capable of playing. We haven't shown what we can do--and what better time than now?"

The powerful halfback from New York City enters The Game with an impressive 1219 career rushing yards on 238 carries (mostly up the middle) for an average of 5.1 yards per carry. Until this year, he had only been dropped for a loss twice in his career.

He's tough, hard-nosed runner who prefers lowering his shoulder and bulldozing a defensive back to faking him out. And he can catch, too. Hirsch has caught 59 passes for 661 yards in his three years on the varsity.

"You love to let him have the ball. You want him to grind it out," junior quarterback Mike Giardi says. "Robb's one of those players, if there's a big hit on the field you can look up and know he was in on it."

"I remember in last year's Princeton game I threw him a couple of passes and just hung him out to dry. He just took the hits and got up smiling. That's the kind of player he is."

Despite the hard knocks, Hirsch had 99 yards and five catches in the stunning 24-21 win over the Tigers.

"I do love the contact. That's the joy of the game for me," he says. "I feel like I could be even more hardnosed. All my energy and focus is going on this [game] now, because it's what we have left. But I still feel like I could do more for the team."

This year the Lowell senior has been hampered by a nagging hamstring injury that has bothered him and added to the frustration of a losing season.

"I find myself having to restrain, whereas my whole nature is to go all out," he says. "It's been a strain on me, but I feel like I've been able to give it the attention that it needs, but not to let it dominate me or my goals for the team."

Off the field, Hirsch applies his tenacity and disciplined work habits to his studies as a government major. Last Tuesday he was named an Academic All-Ivy Honoree for Harvard with a 3.199 GPA, but he didn't even know about it until he read it in The Crimson. Some rewards are more significant for Hirsch.

"To put on the Crimson jersey has been an honor for me," he says. "Sometimes we're just going through the practice routine and I step back for a moment to think how fortunate I am to be in that position."

"Not a whole lot of guys get to play college ball, get to be part of such a tradition, and more importantly, get to be part of such a team. That's what I'm most proud of: my teammates," he says.

An actor in his free time, Hirsch is able to translate the raw passion and energy of his game into art.

"Acting is just something I've taken an interest in throughout my education," Hirsch says.

"I've taken some classes here and in high school. I just enjoy improvisation. I love the spontaneity of it."

The same way he loves the spontaneous combustion of an opposing player and the quick, extemporaneous cut to the open field. The gridiron is his stage.

And when it's all over this afternoon, and the happy Harvard throng spills on to the field and back to the houses for a victory toast, they will no doubt be talking about Hirsch's tour de force--how he upstaged the poor players from Connecticut.

And the 119th captain will quietly bow out.