Football's Last Iron Men: 1934, Yale vs. Princeton, and One Stunning Upset

In November 1934, the Princeton football team—unbeaten in its last fifteen games—faced the 3–3 Yale Bulldogs, who gave new meaning to the term “underdogs.” As much a thrilling play-by-play account of college football at its finest as it is a fascinating work of sports history, this book chronicles the season that brought Princeton and Yale together in a game like no other since.

 

Football’s Last Iron Men follows the teams from the hiring of future Hall of Fame coaches Fritz Crisler and Greasy Neale through spring practice to their annual clash on November 17. The Yale Elis, it seemed, had no chance. How those eleven players—who never left the game—stunned Princeton 7–0 is a chapter in football history. It was an era of 165-pound linemen, quarterbacks who called their own plays, and student athletes who earned no special treatment. But the story of Yale’s Iron Men is also part of a larger history, for it took place during the Great Depression, when millions of struggling Americans found hope in the courage and grit of the team who wouldn’t quit.