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On Labor Day Weekend, Colgate will make one of their most unique road trips ever as they travel to the Bay Area to take on Stanford. The game will be Colgate’s first game against a PAC-12 school ever and serves as redemption for their 1932 “Undefeated, Untied, Unscored Upon, and Uninvited” Rose Bowl snub.
However, fans may not realize that Colgate has extensive ties to the Bay Area. The greatest coach in Raider history, College Football Hall of Famer Andy Kerr coached the East Team in the East-West Shrine Game from 1928-1950 and served as chairman of East player selection for 18 years after that.
Throughout that time, San Francisco’s venerable Kezar Stadium served as the backdrop for the Granddaddy of the All-Star Classics. Additionally, Kerr was Stanford’s head coach from 1922-1923, compiling a 11-7 record before his most famous stop at Colgate, where he went 95-50-7.
With Kerr as coach of the East Team for so many years, Colgate players were a fixture in the East-West Shrine Game’s early years, placing 34 players in the game from 1930-1954. Even after Colgate had long taken a step away from the college football limelight, a pair of Raider greats capped their careers in the Bay Area in the 1970s and 1980s, as Oakland Raider great, running back Mark Van Eeghan (1973) and quarterback Steve Calabria (1984) earned invites after stellar careers.
The ties between Colgate and the Bay Area are extensive and it only makes sense for the Raiders to play in the Bay Area more routinely. Colgate and Stanford can even add some flair to the series and create the “Andy Kerr Legacy Trophy” in honor of his contributions to the East-West Shrine Game as well as Stanford and Colgate, his most famed head coaching spots. Legacy games honoring coaches are a great way to honor the history of programs, with two such examples being the “Bill Walsh Legacy Game” between Stanford and San Jose State and the “Dick Tomey Legacy Trophy” between Hawaii and San Jose State.
Patriot League schools making long journeys for paycheck games is not as unprecedented an idea as one may think. Fordham had a visit to Hawaii planned for 2020, but now set for 2028. Holy Cross also recently agreed to a 2029 game against San Jose State, so Patriot League schools will be no stranger to the Bay Area in the coming years.
Colgate’s trip to Stanford in Week 1 will be a sentimental one for the few Colgate fans alive who remember Andy Kerr’s tenure in Hamilton, but it does not have to be a rare occurrence for the program. A series like this educates fans about one of college football’s most underrated coaches. Let’s make the Andy Kerr Legacy Trophy happen!
