For some college athletes, graduation marks the end of their sporting careers. But thanks to the Capital Alumni Network (CAN), many Jumbo alums in the Washington, D.C. area have far from left their athletic glory days behind.
Tufts' CAN co-ed flag football team, organized by former Jumbo athletes Mike MacGregor (LA '02) and Tim Ayres (E '02) following the success of the school's alumni softball team, is now in its third season. The team's record currently stands at a perfect 10-0 after going undefeated through the regular season for the first time in the team's short history.
"We've always been pretty solid, and we've kind of gotten better each year," said MacGregor, the team's quarterback. "Now, when people talk about good teams, we're in the conversation with a lot of the other big schools."
"Different players come every season, but I think there's been kind of a core group of people that have been together the whole time," receiver Leah Rosales (LA '03) said. "I think somehow we have just started getting more comfortable with each other and become a lot more cohesive."
Ranked No. 1 in the coaches' poll, the Jumbos have been prevailing on both sides of the ball, holding opponents to 12 points or less in all but two games this season -- including 33-0 and 45-0 thrashings of Pittsburgh and BU, respectively -- while scoring more than 20 points in all but two of their contests. Their toughest test came in their final regular-season matchup, a clash with then 7-1 George Washington, which the Jumbos won 19-16 after stopping nine straight Colonials plays from inside the 10-yard line.
With the success the team has enjoyed this season, fellow Jumbos are coming out in unprecedented numbers to get in on the action.
"The success of the team has gotten a lot more people excited about it, and that's why we'll get 25 people at 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning," Rosales said. "People actually stay in on Friday nights so that they can get up in the morning for a flag football game."
But the team's popularity has long preceded its dominance; Tufts has boasted strong numbers from the beginning despite being teased by Div. I teams for its size, lack of notoriety and mascot.
"Starting from when I first came out, I think we had one of the larger showings," said Marcellus Rolle (LA '04), a former Tufts football player who currently joins MacGregor, Ayers, Jon Japha (LA '02) and Dominic Ju (LA '00) on the team's coaching staff. "We were very represented going into the first season. We played against Div. I schools -- the Michigans, the Ohio States, the Floridas, the Georgias -- and small little Tufts has 35 people show up per season. That's just unheard of."
For many of its members, the team's draw is not hard to understand, as flag football has been a good way to have fun and socialize while staying connected to the greater Tufts community.
"With so many people there, it kind of seems like a great opportunity to meet other alumni," Rolle said. "Usually we end up talking about the [Patriots] game or what's going on back at Tufts or in Boston. We all have kind of a common bond."
"It's more fun, it's less formal [than other alumni events]," said Bryan Pitko (LA '03), who was a member of both the football and track teams while at Tufts. "It's just a way to compete with a bunch of people you can have that shared experience at Tufts with. It's kind of neat that we can represent Tufts even though our athletic days are kind of behind us."
After closing out the regular season, the Jumbos now look toward their first playoff game, which will take place this weekend. After receiving a first-round bye, the Jumbos will likely play UNC, which they defeated 29-16 earlier this season. But given the nature of the league, which sees different players show up for games each week, the Jumbos can't take their first opponent lightly.
"You never know in this league just because it's so fluid," Rosales said. "Sometimes people don't show up at games, so therefore when you play them on one day, you have no idea if that's the best players on the field ... At least against a team we've already played, we do feel fairly confident, but it's still a crapshoot."
If Tufts advances, it will find itself up against the winner of George Washington versus James Madison before potentially heading into rematches with N.C. State and Michigan, each of which has knocked the Jumbos out of contention in tournament play in previous years. Still, the team is up to the challenge and ready to extend its winning streak.
"Each year the team that knocked us out came in second place," MacGregor said. "If we're going to go on and win it, we're excited to meet N.C. State in the Elite Eight and Michigan in the Final Four. We'll have to go through teams that have eliminated us in the past."
"It's just like any sports team," Rolle said. "You start building momentum, and we're excited. We have a great team and a great coaching staff, and I think we have a great chance to go really far in this tournament. We're going to go out, play hard, do our best and have fun. If we do those three things, the sky is the limit."
