This page is no longer being updated and remains online for informational and historical purposes only. The information is accurate as of the last page update.
For questions about page contents, contact the Communications Division.
Jim Farrell ’41 has seen a lot in the 65 years since he graduated from Lafayette.
But none of it prepared him for the new-look Fisher Field at Fisher Stadium that he witnessed for the first time Saturday.
“Everything is beautiful. I can’t believe it,” Farrell said as he stood inside the Allan P. Kirby Sports Center a little while before kickoff at the Homecoming game against Holy Cross. “That football field, this building — it’s gorgeous!”
(Slideshows of Homecoming events are available on the Homecoming web site. In addition, photo galleries of the stadium’s transformation and a live image of the field via a webcam are available on the Lafayette web site.)
Farrell and eight other former Leopard football greats gathered in the morning as part of the “Celebrate Great Moments” theme the weekend’s events carried. Before being honored before and during the game, the alumni gathered to talk over old times and discover new friendships among those with whom they shared a common football bond.
Farrell, a halfback who played on Lafayette’s last undefeated team in 1940, was an All-American and is a Maroon Club Hall of Fame member. He represented one of three generations of Farrells who attended Saturday’s festivities, including his wife Gerta.
While Farrell’s days of single-wing football played on grass-and-dirt fields is long past, he welcomed the new developments at Fisher Stadium and said he follows the team’s exploits “religiously” from his Connecticut home.
“It looks great,” he said of the revamped field. “I never played on the turf, but they [colleges] all seem to be going to that.”
Farrell had the chance to chat with Harold Bellis ’40, a former quarterback who played on the undefeated 1937 team that surrendered just six points all season. Bellis, a Phillipsburg, N.J., resident, also is a Maroon Club Hall of Famer.
“I’ll tell you, in 1926 I saw the first Easton-P’burg game here,” he recalled. “This new field is wonderful! I can’t get over the stadium and everything.”
Some of the more recent football alumni also gave the changes high marks.
Mark Jones ’77 said the new stadium and field will have far-reaching implications.
“It’s good for the kids, great for the school,” said Jones, a former quarterback who was Most Valuable Player of the 1976 Lafayette-Lehigh game and MVP of his team that season. “There’s the same kind of excitement here as when I played, but on a little larger scale.”
Similar sentiments were expressed elsewhere at the pre-game gathering.
Seeing the new field made Maroon Club Hall of Famer and Hellertown resident Joe Bozik ’58 long for bygone days.
“I think it’s much better,” Bozik said of the new field. The former quarterback who helped the 1955 team capture the “Little Brass Cannon,” Lafayette’s first Middle Three title since 1944, added: “I’m anxious to walk on it to tell you the truth.”
Joe McCourt ’05, an All-American and MVP of Lafayette’s first NCAA playoff team, was ready to put the pads and cleats on and go play some ball.
“You work your tail off all those years and the new guys get the reward,” lamented McCourt, now a high school football coach. “But that’s how it should be. I’d love to get back on the field.”
All of the Lafayette legends were afforded that very opportunity before the game when they were introduced to the crowd. Also preceding the game was a joint choir, featuring the Lafayette Concert Choir and The Graduates (alumni choir), performing the alma mater and national anthem. A ceremony before the coin toss involved the three lead donors of the Fisher Stadium transformation project, John T. “Jack” Bourger ’71, James R. Fisher ’77, the F.M. Kirby Foundation Inc., and their families.
At halftime, Lafayette’s cheerleaders and dance team performed jointly, and the pep band entertained the home fans. A five-minute video presentation, given to all the legends honored, was played on the new 19-by-35 foot video matrix board in the northwest corner of Fisher Stadium.
In addition, the school honored the memory of David Showell ’51. Five members of his family were present as the school recalled the story of Showell, an African-American and World War II veteran who was Lafayette’s starting halfback in 1948. With segregation policies still in effect in the South, the University of Texas Board of Regents refused to allow Showell to suit up for the Sun Bowl game between Lafayette and Texas College of Mines (now Texas-El Paso.)
When learning of the regents’ decision, Lafayette declined the bowl bid, a refusal that led the regents to reconsider and integrate the Sun Bowl three years later. The events are recalled in a song, “The Greatest Game They Never Played.”
In addition to the aforementioned, other players honored were:
Maurice Bennett ’06, the most decorated player in Lafayette football history, who helped lead his team to its first NCAA playoff at-large bid;
Frank Downing ’51, a three-year starter at quarterback who led Lafayette to three straight wins over Lehigh, and a Maroon Club Hall of Famer;
Joe Skladany ’82, a two-time All-America linebacker;
Frank Baur ’90, a quarterback featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated after leading the nation in passing, named one of Lafayette’s 15 greatest athletes of the 20th century, and a Maroon Club Hall of Famer;
Tom Costello ’92, a tailback and Lafayette’s first two-time MVP of Lafayette-Lehigh games;
Erik Marsh ’95, Lafayette’s all-time leading rusher, two-time Lafayette-Lehigh MVP, two-time team MVP, named one of Lafayette’s 15 greatest athletes of the 20th century and a Maroon Club Hall of Famer.
Alumni events were hosted by four teams on Saturday. The swimming and diving team hit the pool at the Ruef Natatorium in Kirby Sports Center, and the fencing team convened in Kamine Gym. The women’s lacrosse and softball teams played alumni games at the Metzgar Fields Athletic Complex.