When the Jumbos take the field in Hartford, Conn., this weekend against the Trinity Bantams, the Tufts football program will reach an important milestone.
Saturday will be the 1,000th game in the program's distinguished history. With the accomplishment, Tufts reaches a mark that has been attained by only one other Div. III program, when the Amherst Lord Jeffs played in their 1000th during the 2004 season.
Coach Bill Samko was aware of the impending milestone game but downplayed its importance, focusing more on the Jumbos' opportunity to improve to 4-0 with a win over the Bantams.
"It's cool, but I'm not necessarily thinking about it a lot," Samko said of the feat.
However, Samko expressed his views on preserving Tufts' historic football program, which dates back 132 years, when Tufts played Harvard in 1875 in what many claim to be the first collegiate football game using American football rules.
"That's a long time, [132] years of football here at Tufts," Samko said. "That's quite a historical reference to everybody who's been involved with the program. So you have a responsibility to keep it, to cherish it, and to try to make it better."
- by Evans Clinchy
