Princeton Tigers (1958-69)

As of this writing, the Princeton Tigers are but one win away from their third Ivy League title in three years, and their first undefeated season since 1964. The uniforms above were the "classic" Princeton uniform of that era, as it went virtually unchanged for a dozen years, with only some tiny trim alterations here and there (check the socks and pant stripes verrrry closely). Ah, for the days of sleeves and stripes. I think I've mentioned this before, but I like how Princeton and Nike in recent years have done their best to preserve the fabled tiger stripes on the jerseys, even though sleeves are a thing of the past.

The home uniform in 1958, from the Princeton Bric-a-Brace yearbook
(the second coolest yearbook name, behind only Virginia's Corks and Curls).

The 1960 road uni, also from the Bric-a-Brac.

The '60 home uniform, in a nice candid shot. 

The 1960s were a hot period for the program, which was no easy task considering Bob Blackman's Dartmouth Big Green was running roughshod over the rest of the Ivies. The Tigers won or shared four Ivy crowns in the decade, while Dartmouth won five (and a sixth in 1970). Coach Dick Colman used the single-wing formation to great success, although it had gone the way of leather helmets everywhere else.

The star of the undefeated '64 team was the wonderfully named Cosmo Iacavazzi, who was a third-team All-Ameircan and subject of one of the worst airbrush jobs ever. In this post, I mentioned how the folks at Topps in 1965 half-assed their attempts to turn Boston College end Jim Whalen's uniform into a Boston Patriots uni. Well, Topps did the same thing that year to poor Cosmo, who signed a contract with the New York Jets during the 1964-65 offseason. Iacavazzi's black-and-orange Princeton top was given a green-and-white makeover, making him look more like a Saskatchewan Roughrider.

Cosmo Iacavazzi, of YOUR Princeton Jets. Or New York Tigers?

Here's Cosmo (far left) during his brief Jets career, taking a handoff
from another rookie, quarterback Joe Namath, in a 1965 preseason game against
the Patriots in Lowell, Mass.

You can read a little bit about the '64 team here.

A fine article here discusses the '66 team and the hardships it overcame to win a share of the Ivy crown that year. 

In 1969, with a new coach (Jake McCandless) and a new playbook (the T-formation finally arrived), Princeton celebrated the centennial of college football by wearing a small "100" decal on its helmets, The Tigers, of course, played in the first recognized college football game in 1869 against Rutgers and lost, 6-4 (no, don't expect any uniforms from that game to appear here.) The teams faced off again in '69 and the Scarlet Knights again prevailed, 29-0. (With Rutgers now in the Bee-One-Gee, one shudders what would happen if they faced off in a 150th anniversary game next year. Princeton went on to win part of another Ivy title when it thumped Dartmouth 35-7 in the season finale, denying the Big Green an undisputed championship ... and an undefeated season.

Princeton didn't win another Ivy title for 20 long years.

Dartmouth and Princeton share pleasantries before their 1969 game,
when Princeton won a share of the Ivy League title. Yes, football players
were much smaller then.

This photo collection from an eBay listing shows off the
1969 Rutgers-Princeton football centennial game.

More unis from Old Nassau: 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 1996, 1993-95, 1994, 1987-90, 1984-86, 1975-77, 1979-83, 1970-72, 1956-57, 1955, 1949-54, 1947-48, 1945-46. Rivalry week: Dartmouth-Princeton.

Feed the kitties or they'll do this to you.