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For information on all Brown University sports, see Brown Bears.
Brown Bears football
2024 Brown Bears football team
First season1878; 146 years ago
Athletic directorJack Hayes
Head coachJames Perry
3rd season, 7–23 (.233)
StadiumRichard Gouse Field at Brown Stadium
(capacity: 20,000)
Field surfaceTurf
LocationProvidence, Rhode Island
NCAA divisionDivision I FCS
ConferenceIvy League
All-time record607–565–40 (.517)
Bowl record0–1 (.000)
Conference titles4 (1976, 1999, 2005, 2008)
RivalriesRhode Island (rivalry)
Consensus All-Americans10
Current uniform
ColorsSeal brown, cardinal red, and white[1]
     
Fight songEver True
Marching bandBrown University Band
WebsiteBrownBears.com
Brown Bears
The first team fielded by the Brown University, 1878
Brown Bears vs. Cornell, 2018
2021 team

The Brown Bears football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Brown University located in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Ivy League. Brown's first football team was fielded in 1878. The Bears play their home games at the 20,000-seat Richard Gouse Field at Brown Stadium in Providence, Rhode Island. The team's head coach is James Perry, who was hired on December 3, 2018.

History

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See also: List of Brown Bears football seasons

Brown University was slow to adopt football as an intercollegiate sport, compared to some other Ivy League schools like Princeton (1869), Yale (1872), Harvard (1873), and Penn (1876).[2] Brown president Barnas Sears banned the sport in 1862 "because of its violent nature."[2] It was introduced as an intramural sport in 1866, but Brown didn't play its first intercollegiate football game until November 13, 1878, losing a game against Amherst College.[2] Brown then played a rather sporadic schedule; they played (and lost) one game in 1880 against Yale; in 1886 played two games, losing one to Boston University and winning one against Providence High School.[2] Lack of campus interest in the sport led Brown to skip the 1887 and 1888 seasons entirely.[2] Future football legend John Heisman, frustrated by the lack of playing opportunity at Brown, joined a Pawtucket club team to get more time on the field.[2] He departed for Penn for the 1889 season.[2]

Fritz Pollard, “the human torpedo,” led Brown to the Rose Bowl in 1915 as a freshman.[3] In 1916 Pollard led Brown to an 8-1 record, including Brown's first win against Harvard.[3]

In the middle of the 1926 season, the “Iron Men” came into being when the same 11 players played against Yale for 60 minutes and a 7–0 win. The next week the same 11 players played without substitution against Dartmouth and won 10–0. Two weeks later the Iron Men played 58 minutes against Harvard, but in the last two minutes the substitutes came in to earn their letters. Brown won all its games that year until the Thanksgiving game against Colgate ended in a 10–10 tie. The famed “Iron Men” were Thurston Towle ’28, Paul Hodge ’28, Orland Smith ’27, Charles Considine ’28, Lou Farber ’29, Ed Kevorkian ’29, Hal Broda ’27, Al Cornsweet ’29, Dave Mishel ’27, Ed Lawrence ’28, and Roy Randall ’28. In the 1948 season, Brown fans were the originators of the popular "de-fense!" chant that spread to the NFL in the 1950s. Following the 1981 season, the Ivy League was reclassified to Division I-AA, today known as the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), Brown moved to Division I-AA play with the rest of the league.[4] Brown has 607 wins, making them tied for 72nd all time in wins among division one football programs.

In 1997, Phil Estes began a twenty-one year tenure as Brown's head coach, resulting in three Ivy League championships. In 2018, after two consecutive winless seasons in the Ivy League, Estes announced that he would be stepping down.[5] James Perry was named head coach in December 2018.[6]

Brown did not compete during the 2020 season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent cancellation of the Ivy League season.[7]

Championships

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The Bears have no national championships, though they do have one undefeated team, the 1926 team, also known as the Iron Men of 1926, finishing 9–0–1 (and winning all three of their Ivy League games), with a 10–10 tie with Colgate in the last game of the season.

Conference championships

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The Bears have won the Ivy League title four times in their history. The Bears won their first Ivy League title in 1976, sharing it with Yale while finishing 8–1 on the season, clinching the title with a 28–17 victory over Columbia.[8] In 1999, the Bears went 9–1 (the most victories since 1926, along with a record seven game winning streak), while beating Columbia 23–6 to share the Ivy League title with Yale.[9] In 2005, the Bears finished 9–1, beating Columbia 52–21 in their final game in order to clinch their first ever outright Ivy League title and third overall.[10] In 2008, the Bears finished 7–3 (while losing only one Ivy League game), beating Columbia 41–10 to clinch a share of the Ivy League title, their fourth over conference title and third in nine years.[11][12]

Brown's 2005 Ivy Championship ring
Year Conference Coach Overall record Conference record
1976 Ivy League John W. Anderson 8–1 6–1
1999 Ivy League Phil Estes 9–1 6–1
2005 Ivy League Phil Estes 9–1 6–1
2008 Ivy League Phil Estes 7–3 6–1

Bowl games

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Brown has made one bowl appearance, garnering a record of 0–1.

Season Date Bowl Coach Opponent Result
1915 January 1, 1916 Rose Bowl Eddie N. Robinson Washington State L 0–14

Rivalries

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Rhode Island

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Main article: Brown–Rhode Island football rivalry

Brown leads the series with Rhode Island, their in-state rival, 73–27–2.

College Football Hall of Famers

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Notable former players

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See also: List of Brown Bears in the NFL draft

References

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  1. ^ "Brown University Athletics & Recreation Brand Guidelines" (PDF). June 17, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Heisman, John M. (2012). Heisman: The Man Behind the Trophy. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781451682939. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Brown University Archives (January 10–31, 2005). "About Fritz Pollard". Remembering Fritz Pollard and the African-American Experience at Brown. Brown University Library. Archived from the original on April 16, 2024. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  4. ^ New York Times – 2006-11-17
  5. ^ "Estes steps down as Brown's coach". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  6. ^ "James Perry Named Head Football Coach". Brown Bears. Brown University Athletics. December 3, 2018. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  7. ^ West, Jenna (July 8, 2020). "Ivy League to Postpone Fall Athletics, No Date Set for Return". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  8. ^ "Ivy League Championships". brownbears.com. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  9. ^ "Ivy League Championships". brownbears.com. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  10. ^ "Ivy League Championship Teams". brownbears.com. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  11. ^ "Ivy League Championship Teams". brownbears.com. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  12. ^ "Ivy League" (PDF). Ivy League. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 12, 2016. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
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