Princeton, Rutgers To Play Roles In College Football's 150th Anniversary Celebration

No two schools have been playing college football longer than Princeton University and Rutgers University. The teams played each other in the first game ever played, way back on Nov. 6, 1869, a game Rutgers won, 6-4.

In two years, the sport will celebrate its 100th anniversary, and both schools will play a role in the festivities.
Princeton University Athletic Director Mollie Marcoux Samaan and Rutgers University Athletic Director Pat Hobbs will both be part of the committee that will help oversee the nationwide celebration in 2019, the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame announced this week.

The committee is made up of representatives from the American Football Coaches Association, the Division I conferences, National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, the NCAA, Princeton University, Rutgers University, and others.

Longtime college athletics administrator and former Big 12 Conference commissioner Kevin Weiberg will oversee the effort, beginning on Aug. 1 of this year. He will report to the committee.

The commemoration will be celebrated at all divisions of intercollegiate football during the 2019 season, with a focus on Nov. 6, and culminating with the College Football Playoff National Championship in January 2020.

"I am honored to represent Princeton University, one of the founding fathers of college football, on this national committee," Marcoux Samaan told goprincetontigers.com. "I am very proud of Princeton's important role in the legacy and development of college football throughout the game's history and am particularly proud of Princeton Football's consistent and passionate commitment to excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community."

"Rutgers is where it all started,” Hobbs told nj.com. “We are the Birthplace of College Football, a game that has meant so much to so many. I am honored to join my colleagues on this Committee in planning the nationwide celebration."

Princeton and Rutgers played nearly every year from 1933-1980, but the series was discontinued when NCAA split Division I into two tiers.

They had been trying to arrange a game in 2019, but Rutgers will instead kick off the season by playing the University of Massachusetts, the fourth-oldest football playing program in the country, according to nj.com.

Marcoux Samaan and Hobbs will join a committee that also includes:

• Todd Berry, executive director, American Football Coaches Association;
• Ari Fleischer, president, Ari Fleischer Communications;
• Bill Hancock, executive director, College Football Playoff;
• Steve Hatchell, president & chief executive officer, National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame;
• Chris Howard, president, Robert Morris University;
• Mike Kern, associate commissioner, Missouri Valley Football Conference/FCS Managing Director;
• Oliver Luck, executive vice president of regulatory affairs and strategic partnerships, NCAA;
• Larry Scott, commissioner, Pac-12 Conference;
• Jon Steinbrecher, commissioner, Mid-American Conference;
• Bob Vecchione, executive director, National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics; and
• Wright Waters, executive director, Football Bowl Association.

Patch file photo