Hall of Fame
The legacy of the 1951 football team will be a part of Norwich athletics forever, for it is the legacy of a group of young men who embodied everything that Norwich University stands for. Those young cadets may not have earned a perfect record on the field, but their character, determination, and courageous spirit have earned them a perfect record in the minds and hearts of past and future Norwich athletes, cadets and supporters.
The 1951 team took the practice field under first-year coach Duke Benz having won only two games the previous season. Their combined record during the previous three years was 3-21. Between 1944 and 1951, Norwich had fashioned only five victories against 37 losses.
It was during these years, the mid to late 40s, that Norwich team members endured severe physical beatings and humiliation at the hands of their opponents. Bigger, better and faster teams continually drove home the point that it was difficult to compete against universities which had unlimited scholarship support for their athletes. Thought equally dedicated, most Norwich teams during that period were simply overmatched. While their opponents substituted fresh players as offensive possession changed hands, the Norwich gridders went both ways out of simple necessity; the Horsemen roster was just too sparse.
But the members of the 1951 squad had something else in mind. The survivors of the previous seasons who returned in the fall of 1951 had endured a grueling forging process. Team Captain Billy Crannell's courageous work ethic became a standard for the entire squad and General Ernest Harmon, who took over the corps, provided the encouragement and support of the entire school community.
Refusing to accept the fate of previous year's teams, this group of hardened veterans and eager rookies, under the leadership of Coach Benz and Assistant Coach Bob Priestly, etched a place for themselves in the Norwich Hall of Fame by winning six games against two losses. The two losses were to undefeated teams. In one season, this group of athletes completely turned around a program which had seen its worst days, too often and for too long.
One of the sweetest victories of that glorious season came at the expense of arch rival Middlebury College which had defeated Norwich five years in a row, prior to 1951. During that span, the Middlebury teams outscored Norwich teams 102-0. But the '51 squad focused their eyes on the endzone, not the record books, and defeated Middlebury 20-13, the first of a string of three straight wins against the Panthers.
The 1951 football team added a new dimension to our motto "I will try!" They never quit. They displayed qualities which are prerequisites to acknowledgment in the Norwich University Athletic Hall of Fame. Their legacy should be an example to all of us.
