Reminiscing About Princeton Football

What a wonderful article you ran in November, “The Boys of Fall in Winter” by Mark F. Bernstein ’83, about the undefeated football team of 1964. I was on the JV team that season, and I have a few memories that were beautifully stimulated by this article, particularly of Cosmo Iacavazzi ’65. Once a week the team had contact practice. In order not to risk damaging the backfield runners, the defense had portable air bags that we’d use for contact. Well, there I was playing linebacker one day, and Cosmo came charging up the middle. So I used my air bag when he came at me, but oh! What a shot! It was a total surprise. He lowered his shoulder, and it felt like a truck just ran me over! Bounced me back a step or two to prevent me from falling on my butt. Yikes! If this is what it felt like for others trying to tackle Cosmo in a game, well, I felt sorry for them! 

That team had several others who were almost as tough as Cosmo. Hayward Gipson, of my class (’67), made the varsity sophomore year. I remember more than once trying to block him and feeling like I just hit a brick wall. Then he would throw me aside and chase the play. We had a good fullback in the class also, Dave Martin ’67. His nickname was “Truck”— big, fast, and hard-hitting, if not quite the All-American that Cosmo certainly was. 

The team also had some, let’s say “mouthy” guys on it — not a lot, but enough to keep things lively. They kept the spirit up. Ron Grossman was another one for this team. He was a linebacker in my class, and during practice he never seemed to quit. When someone beat him, or it was clear he was tired, he’d take a few breaths, walk away, and come back at you hard as usual. 

The ’64 team is the only one that defeated Dartmouth in the four years I was there. Not only did they beat them, but they beat them in Hanover! The ’65 season was another great season for Princeton football. Ron Landeck was our super back that year, and the team was 8-0 before the Dartmouth game in Palmer Stadium. Unfortunately for us, Landeck had been injured during the week. He played, but Dartmouth ended Princeton’s 17-game winning streak, longest in the nation at that time. In my four years at Princeton, we lost a total of five games in football, one to Harvard, one to Colgate, and three to Dartmouth. Grrr! 

Thanks for stimulating the reminiscences. It really took me back. I had to drop football after my sophomore year — one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make. I wanted so much to wear those Tiger stripes! Engineering studies were getting harder, and it was clear that I wasn’t going to make it in football, so I managed to do wrestling, where Princeton wasn’t so dominant.