Glory Days

Glory Days

 
 

    
 The 1976 Football Champions join the Athletic Hall of Fame.

They came to Brown more than a quarter-century ago as wide-eyed teenagers, taking a leap of faith with a confident new coach named John Anderson, who guaranteed a championship for a football program that had been struggling for years. This November they returned to campus for a weekend as middle-aged men eager to celebrate the 25th anniversary of a promise kept: Brown's 1976 Ivy League Championship, the first in the University's football history. The pinnacle of the weekend's silver-anniversary celebration was the induction of the entire team into the Browm Athletic Hall of Fame.

Fifty-five players made their way to Providence for the November induction ceremony. ESPN's Chris Berman '77, was also inducted as an honorary member of the 1976 team. Absent were Coach Anderson, who passed away in 1998, and Charles Margiotta '79, a defensive lineman who as a lieutenant with the Fire Department of New York was one of 343 firefighters killed in the collapse of the World Trade Center towers on September 11.

After Margiotta's teammates-many of them wearing red ribbons and FDNY caps in his memory-were honored on the field at halftime of the Brown-Dartmouth game, his family was presented with a framed football jersey bearing his old number, 65.

At the induction ceremony that evening, Margiotta's family members and several of his FDNY colleagues received a prolonged standing ovation from the overflow crowd. Margiotta's mothr, Amelia, was presented with her son's championship ring, and the Margiotta family and his FDNY colleagues were named honorary members of the 1976 team. Senior Development Officer Dave Zucconi '55, announced a 1.4 million dollar scholarship fund in Margiotta's honor.
 
 Scott Cole / Brown Alumni Magazine