Sixty years after Kennedy’s death, the Army-Navy football clash still relevant
By Kevin Taylor
Alma Schools
Back in November of 1963, America was embroiled in sit-ins, race marches, and protests. It was a tumultuous time in history. And on Nov. 22 of that year, things went from bad to shocking, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while visiting Texas.
Before 1963, the Fifties still lingered, especially when it came to music — from Dion to the Platters, from Bobby Darin to the Marvelettes.
That year, however, a lot changed, from the Kennedy assassination to Beatlemania.
But one thing that didn’t change that year was the Army-Navy football game.
Though initially put on hold following Kennedy’s Nov. 22nd assassination, President Kennedy’s widow, Jacqueline, and the family sent word the game should be played. President Kennedy was a huge football fan, was a former Naval officer, and loved the Army-Navy game.
The game was to have been played eight days following President Kennedy’s assassination but was rescheduled for Dec. 7.
This year’s game marks the 60th anniversary of one of the wildest Army-Navy games ever played, a 21-15 Midshipmen victory in 1963 that, with Roger Staubach at quarterback, got so loud toward the end of the game, the Black Knights — who had driven to Midshipmen 2-yard line — could not hear the signals over the roar of the 102,000 fans that had piled into Philadelphia’s Municipal Stadium as the clock struck zero.
The 2023 game marks the 124th meeting of the two military institutions, with tickets priced between $375 to $25,000. The game has been sold out for months.
This week, the Army-Navy football game will be played at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. Tickets are tougher to come by than Super Bowl or Taylor Swift concert tickets.
“I looked on Stubhub or one of those outlets back in the summer — months before the actual game and the tickets were out of sight,” Alma history teacher and Army veteran Chad Powell said. “It’s the only game in America where everybody that walks on that field, whether they’re playing in the game or not, they’re going to sign their name on the dotted line and say, ‘I’m going to give my life for you.’ It’s college football, but there’s so much more.”
Powell, a diehard Black Knight fan, served in the Army, as did his dad and grandfather. This week, he spent time getting jabs in with Alma High School Principal Brian Kirkendoll and NJROTC Senior Chief Troy Peel and Commander Mike Raymer — all three with Navy ties.
“When I was on active duty, I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to it,” Kirkendoll said. “As time went on, and as I got older, the Navy football team got better, and I had spent some time in Annapolis, the game means more.”
Navy leads the all-time series 62-54-7 and won 14 straight over the Knights between 2002-15.
Kirkendoll spent 21 years in the Navy, including seven years of active duty. He spent time at the National Insulation Training Facility across the Severn River from the Naval Academy. (Kirkendoll spent most of his active duty time at the Naval Submarine Base New London, in Groton, Conn.).
“It’s right beside (Navy-Marine Corps Memorial) stadium and it’s a beautiful stadium, so you just kind of fell in love with the place,” Kirkendoll said. “After I got off active duty, I got a commission as a Naval officer in the reserve. When I was around the Naval Academy, it kind of amped up the (importance) of the game. On the Saturday of the Army-Navy game, the meaning changed, as far as how I was interested in it. Also, I love the positive attention it brings to military service. You see the camaraderie … at the end of the game, regardless of who wins, you see Army and Navy coming together honoring America and holding hands and embracing and honoring themselves.”
“The biggest game is the Army-Navy game; that rivalry between the two oldest services,” Peel said. “(But) there is a camaraderie amongst the active duty and the veterans. You’re in a game, and I want to beat you, but it’s probably the only game where the (player) would die for the other guy in a different uniform. This is bigger than any SEC rivalry, or even the Alma-Van Buren game.
“It’s the Dog Bowl on steroids.”
Nov. 22, 1963
In the middle of the class at the U.S. Naval Academy, on the afternoon of Nov. 22, 1963, the professor got some grave news and addressed his students, including the Navy football team captain, Tom Lynch.
“Gentlemen, the president has been assassinated. Class dismissed.”
Back then, the Army-Navy football game, which dates back to 1890, was as big as the Super Bowl. Bigger, some might say.
What do men soon to be in service to the country do at a time like this, when their Commander-in-Chief, a Navy man, has been killed?
It was a hard time for players. The game of their lives was eight days away, with the winner of No. 2 Navy (8-1) and 7-2 Army advancing to the Cotton Bowl to play the No. 1 Texas Longhorns.
Lynch told reporters recently he didn’t know what to do on the day of Kennedy’s assassination so he went to the chapel and prayed.
While the nation mourned Kennedy’s passing, the game was canceled the following day.
Army quarterback Rollie Stichweh served two different tours in the Vietnam War and was awarded a Purple Heart, and Lynch, who later commanded the USS Truett for a handful of years and eventually rose to the rank of admiral, was a two-way player for the Midshipmen — serving as Staubach’s center and also starting at linebacker. (Staubach won the Heisman Trophy just four days after Kennedy’s assanation).
“When I was in the Army, you always rooted for Army — couldn’t stand Navy, although the Navy had better chow halls than Army did,” Powell said. “But when it’s over with, it’s over. Some of them are going to graduate and become officers — or do something for their country. Even the guys who went pro, they still had to do their duty.”
In the middle of the class at the U.S. Naval Academy, on the afternoon of Nov. 22, 1963, the professor got some grave news and addressed his students, including the Navy football team captain, Tom Lynch.
“Gentlemen, the president has been assassinated. Class dismissed.”
Back then, the Army-Navy football game, which dates back to 1890, was as big as the Super Bowl. Bigger, some might say.
What do men soon to be in service to the country do at a time like this, when their Commander-in-Chief, a Navy man, has been killed?
It was a hard time for players. The game of their lives was eight days away, with the winner of No. 2 Navy (8-1) and 7-2 Army advancing to the Cotton Bowl to play the No. 1 Texas Longhorns.
Lynch told reporters recently he didn’t know what to do on the day of Kennedy’s assassination so he went to the chapel and prayed.
While the nation mourned Kennedy’s passing, the game was canceled the following day. There was no uproar. A nation was traumatized.
Army quarterback Rollie Stichweh served two different tours in the Vietnam War and was awarded a Purple Heart, and Lynch, who later commanded the USS Truett for a handful of years and eventually rose to the rank of admiral, was a two-way player for the Midshipmen — serving as Staubach’s center and also starting at linebacker. (Staubach won the Heisman Trophy just four days after Kennedy’s assanation).
“When I was in the Army, you always rooted for Army — couldn’t stand Navy, although the Navy had better chow halls than Army did,” Powell said. “But when it’s over with, it’s over. Some of them are going to graduate and become officers — or do something for their country. Even the guys who went pro, they still had to do their duty.”
Game of the Year
There was no Super Bowl in 1963. College football was still huge.
On the day of the game, Texas coach Darrell Royal sat in the press box, scouting his next foe. CBS director Tony Verna also introduced television audiences to something we take for granted now — instant replay.
But it was confusing to those watching on TV, and to CBS broadcaster Lindsey Nelson who screamed following a replay of Stichweh’s fourth-quarter TD run, ‘This is not live!’ while CBS replayed Stichweh’s fourth-quarter touchdown run.
Video replay was Verna’s idea, though former CBS great and Arkansas native Pat Summerall is credited with coming up with the term ‘instant replay.’
As for the game, Navy coach Wayne Hardin told his team, ‘Let’s play a game worthy of a president.’ Army coach Paul Dietzel echoed the same verse. The presidential box at Municipal Stadium, where John F. Kennedy would have watched the game, was adorned all in block.
For much of the first quarter, the big crowd was quiet.
Led by fullback Pat Donnelly’s three touchdown runs, the Midshipmen built a 21-7 lead before Army cut the lead to six and Stichweh recovered an onsides kick.
Near the end of the game, fans began to spill out of the stands to get to the sidelines near the edge of the end zone. As Army was driving for a potential upset, the roar of the crowd was so deafening that Stichweh couldn’t yell the signal counts loud enough for his players to hear it.
Stichweh pleaded for the referee to stop the clock, so he could quiet the crowd, but as Army huddled, the clock began to move again.
The clock hit zero before the Black Knights could snap one final play.
Game over.
Both Staubach and Cadets quarterback Stichweh were juniors in 1963, meaning they returned for the 1964 season. This time, the Army prevailed, 11-8.
Uniform Watch
Over the last decade, both military institutions have presented unique uniforms for the Army-Navy game. This year, the Black Knights’ uniforms are inspired by the 20th anniversary of the 3rd Infantry Division’s participation in the opening phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The uniforms pay tribute to the division’s ‘Dogface Soldiers,’ with the division’s nickname “Rock of the Marine’ on the helmets.
The tan coloring is meant to evoke the deserts of Iraq.
“In the last 10 years or so, instead of wearing their normal uniforms, they have special uniforms for the game,” Kirkendoll said. “This year the Navy’s uniform focuses on Submarine service. It has Submarine emblems, which are very special to me. It’s positive … it’s not a negative impact.
“I still watch it a lot, plus coach Powell and I go at each other a little bit.”
The Midshipmen will don uniforms that honor the U.S. Submarine Force, supporting personnel and their families — the ‘Silent Service.’
Designed in cooperation with Under Armour, the Eclipse Navy-colored uniforms are meant to mimic the ‘the covert design of a submarine hull,’ per a Navy Athletics release.
“It’s on my bucket list,” added Peel, who spent 20 years in the Navy in active duty, said of attending the Army-Navy game. “It’s one of those (games) I haven’t made the time for. But it’s something I want to do.”