Remembering Navy's Last Thanksgiving Football Game

William McKinley was president, and neither the American League nor the World Series existed the last time the Navy played on Thanksgiving. The Midshipmen’s Turkey Day trip to Memphis marks the end of a 127-year gap between Thanksgiving appearances.

On November 24, 1898, VMI traveled to the Naval Academy for both teams’ season finales. Both teams entered with solid resumes. VMI was 4-1, while Navy was 6-1. The Midshipmen notched wins over six-win teams Penn State and Virginia, along with a Bucknell squad that featured future All-American and Baseball Hall of Famer Christy Matthewson. In fact, the Midshipmen blocked one of Mathewson’s punts for their second touchdown in their 11-0 win over the Bison. The Midshipmen featured future 1900 Casper Whitney All-American end Newton Nichols as a reserve.VMI started the season 4-1 with wins over George Washington, Washington and Lee, Richmond, and St. Albans. The Keydets outscored their opposition 105-16 before the Navy game.

Navy ended up victorious when the teams met on a snowy Thanksgiving to cap their seasons. Sinclair Gannon scored two touchdowns, and Byron Long scored one for the Midshipmen as they raced to a 15-0 first-half lead. (At that time, touchdowns were five points, and kicker Frank Freyer missed all three extra points. A touchdown by VMI’s J.B. Ayers made the game 15-5 at halftime. In the second half, Navy’s Emory Land scored the lone touchdown for either team, and Ward Wortman added the lone successful extra point of the day to give Navy a 21-5 win.

Much has changed since Navy last played on Thanksgiving, but tomorrow’s game against Memphis is a long-awaited return to the American institution of football on Thanksgiving.

Finding the first names of each player in this story involved immense late-night legwork, scouring through Navy’s Football Media Guide and VMI’s 1899 Yearbook (links embedded)