page_title: Lafayette Leopards football
section_title: Early history (1882–1890)
hierarchical_section_title: Lafayette Leopards football / History / Early history (1882–1890)
caption_attribution_description: English: Group photograph of one of the first Lafayette football teams.
context_page_description: The Lafayette Leopards football program represents Lafayette College in college football. One of the oldest college football programs in the United States, Lafayette currently plays in the Patriot League at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision level. Fielding their first team in 1882, Lafayette has won three college football national championships, seven Patriot League championships, six undefeated seasons and four undefeated, untied seasons.
  For most of its history, Lafayette played an independent schedule until joining the Patriot League in 1986. Between 1929 and 1975, the Leopards were a part of an unofficial conference, the “Middle Three Conference, ” which consisted of Rutgers University and Lehigh University. Today, Lafayette is most noted for its fierce arch-rivalry with Lehigh, which is the most played rivalry in college football and the most consecutive years played. ESPN considers "The Rivalry" to be among the top ten in college football, and was the subject of a PBS documentary narrated by NFL Films voice and Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas.
context_section_description: 'Rugby' football was first introduced on College Hill in the fall of 1880 by Theodore H. Welles.  A member of the class of 1884, Welles brought football to Easton after learning the new game at Wilkes Barre Academy and Princeton University, where he studied as a college freshman.  H.R. Craven, who played and learned the sport at the Lawrenceville School, served as the first team captain. Early football at Lafayette was not organized. In 1880 and 1881, students competed against each other on campus.  However, in the fall of 1882, Lafayette traveled to Rutgers to partake in its first intercollegiate football contest. On November 7, 1882, Lafayette fell to Rutgers 0-0/8-3.  One week later, Lafayette lost its second game ever against the University of Pennsylvania 0-0/1-3.  Although official records reflect only two games being played in 1882, Welles mentions playing Swarthmore College and the Stevens Institute of Technology on College Hill, winning both contests.
  With one season of intercollegiate football experience, Lafayette won its first game ever in 1883. After dropping its first three games to Princeton, Pennsylvania, and Stevens, Lafayette broke through against Rutgers on November 10.  With four inches of slushy snow covering the Quad, Lafayette avenged the previous year's defeat 25–0 with four touchdowns despite a water-logged ball.
  The first game of 1884 brought a new team to Lafayette's schedule: Lehigh University. Located in nearby Bethlehem, Lehigh would be playing its first football game. With experience and superior skill on its side, Lafayette annihilated Lehigh 56–0 in what would shortly become known as "The Rivalry". Due to the proximity of the schools, Lafayette played a Lehigh as their last opponent in 1884, winning 36–0 in Bethlehem. True animosity soon developed between both teams. In 1886, Lafayette was winning 12–0 until a severe downpour halted play 15 minutes into the second half (in 1886, there were two 45 minute halves). Both team captains mutually agreed to end the game even though football tradition called for football to be played in all weather.  The game's referee wrote Walter Camp on how to resolve the game. Camp said that the game should be declared a tie, but Lehigh acknowledged they were outplayed and gave Lafayette the victory.  Later in the season, with the game scoreless late in the second half, Lehigh was protesting the officiating of the game. As the Lehigh captain pulled his team off the field in protest, Lafayette picked up the ball and scored a touchdown. To this day, Lafayette counts the game as a 4–0 win, while Lehigh considers the game scoreless. The schools would play each other twice per season until 1902.
  A bitter rivalry also emerged with Pennsylvania. During their annual contest on the Lafayette Quad on November 6, 1889, Lafayette's right tackle Wells, who had been ejected by the umpire earlier in the contest, tripped a Pennsylvania player running with the ball along the sidelines.  As the two players converged following the trip, a crowd of spectators surged the Penn player and "struck, kicked, and generally misused him." Many outside newspapers trumped up the incident to make it seem like a mob had severely beaten the Penn player and there was general unruliness at the Lafayette game.  However, since it was the late 19th century, it is possible that the account of the unruly mob was an instance of yellow journalism. Additionally, the umpire who ejected Wells, Dr. Shell, was from the University of Pennsylvania and was cited in the newspaper for making several bad calls against Lafayette, including negating a five-point field goal on a phantom offside. Regardless, Pennsylvania was upset about the altercation relations between the two schools were strained. The incident was a key catalyst in forming the Alumni Advisory Committee in January 1890. Pennsylvania played only two more times at Lafayette, in 1891 and 1893, until 1973.
  Although there were no formal conferences, Lafayette, Lehigh, and Pennsylvania were loosely affiliated and their games, two against each opponent, w
caption: Lafayette team of 1883
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