Looking back: November 2011

This month’s Looking back photo was “Life” magazine’s picture of the week in November 1949. Help us identify who’s pictured here.

Words by TCNJ's editorial staff

Photo (c) 1950 "Seal"

Here is, perhaps, the most “famous” football photo in TCNJ history. Taken during a November 1949 game against Montclair State, the picture at left shows then-Head Coach George Ackerman firing his troops up with a halftime pep talk. The Lions trailed 0–6 at that point, but went on to win 7–6, thus securing the team’s first victory in 11 years. News of the win spread far and wide: At the time, State’s 45-game winless streak was the longest such stretch in college sports. Life magazine ran this photo as the “Picture of the Week” in the November 28, 1949, issue. In the accompanying caption, Life’s editors asked whether it was Ackerman’s rallying cry or the sign above his head—it reads, “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight. It’s the size of the fight in the dog.”—that pushed the Lions on to victory. Perhaps you were among the players pictured here and can answer that question? Or maybe you just have a story to tell about that memorable day 62 years ago? We’d love to hear from you. Write us at TCNJ Magazine, PO Box 7718, Ewing, NJ 08628-0718 or magazine@tcnj.edu.