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 (part of the Bison Original series) 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.
“Norman Macht captures in exacting detail the exciting 1934 Yale and Princeton seasons, culminating in the heroic sixty-minute effort of eleven tenacious Bulldogs as they upset the heavily favored Tigers.”
—Jim Campbell, football historian
"The game has changed dramatically since 1934, however one must go back in time and truly see how it was once played. This book shows the way the game was played by men from a different time."
—Bob Swick, Gridiron Greats