Morgan State Football Team Receives Visit From Past MSU Greats During Media Day

BALTIMORE, Maryland  --  Despite the rain this past Saturday, the 2013 Morgan State football team had a full slate, as the team took part in its annual picture and media day. As an added bonus this year, the squad had a bonding session with several former Morgan State greats.

Those former Bears who were in attendance included former Dallas Cowboy, Mark Washington; retired General "Kip" Ward; New York Times sportswriter and novelist, Joe Draper, who authored a book about the 2012 Army football team; Craig Spencer, who attended the first Morgan vs. Grambling football game in 1968 when he was a kid and New York Times sports journalist, Bill Rhoden, who hosted the event.

They each addressed the team with inspiring messages about their experiences while at Morgan State and also touched on the historical significance and importance of playing against Army in the season opener on August 30th in West Point, N.Y. The game will mark the first time that a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) football team will square off against the United States Military Academy (Army).

The program was very informative and included a trip down memory lane with a discussion and showing of the DVD documentary featuring the 1968 Morgan vs. Grambling Football Classic game played in Yankee Stadium, which was put on by the New York Urban League. The current Morgan State players were also introduced by the former athletes to the Morgan "Grizzly" tradition ('Claim to Fame'), which is a football team function.

Courtesy Morgan State University Athletics

Several members of the Return to Greatness Steering Committee were also in attendance.

Morgan State kicks off the 2013 campaign on Friday, Aug. 30 at 7 p.m. when it takes on Army live on the CBS Sports Network, the 24-hour cable home of CBS Sports. The Bears will remain on the road for three more contests, including a Sept. 21 date at Western Kentucky, before finally playing in the friendly confines of Hughes Stadium when they host Norfolk State in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) match-up on Sept. 28 at 1 p.m.

The following week Morgan State will welcome the Rattlers of Florida A&M to Baltimore for Homecoming on Oct. 5 at 1 p.m. Later in the season the Bears will be featured on ESPNU as part of the MEAC's television package, when they travel to Orangeburg, S.C. to take on South Carolina State on Thursday, Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m.

For more information on Morgan State football and Morgan State athletics, log on to www.morganstatebears.com.



COURTESY MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION