The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/football/)
“I really want him to be a leader and not a follower — to be different,” said Ed Marinaro. “Don’t be like everybody else. I don’t want him to be influenced negatively or fold in social pressure . . . I want him to be a leader on the field and take pride in the way people perceive him.”
2021 marks the centennial of Cornell’s second national football championship. This would be the beginning of three straight championship seasons, marking one of Cornell’s most winningest periods.
J.C. Tretter ’13 came to Cornell with aspirations of going to law school and becoming a sports agent. Now, he’s the starting center for the Cleveland Browns and the president of the NFL Players Association.
“We had a really good recruitment process that we had developed over many years — and then the coronavirus hit. We had to determine how we could replicate everything.”
Once a highly-anticipated event filled with friends and good food, this year’s Super Bowl Sunday looks different around campus, as Cornell continues to stay at a yellow alert level.
Eighty years ago, Cornell forfeited a game to Dartmouth in what is still seen as a stunning act of sportsmanship.
“We all benefit if the Black players on my team and the Black students on our campus feel heard, seen, respected, safe,” said head coach David Archer ’05. “[If] they feel all those things, my team’s better, our department’s better, our campus is better [and] our world is better.”
“To play in the spring, those other seven schools are going to have to invite their classes back,” Archer added. “You have to ask the medical people, ‘Is playing football medically appropriate to play in the spring season and then turn around and play in the fall?’
The NBA and NHL showed us how we could bring back sports in a pandemic while mitigating risk. The MLB proved that there will be COVID-19 cases if we resist using the bubble format. The NFL is throwing caution to the wind.
“The Ivy League is the Ivy League. We don’t have any playoffs, so this cup is our trophy — our bowl game,” said Phazione McClurge.