Lightweight/Sprint Football History
From 1932-1989, Rutgers proudly sponsored the sport of lightweight football, also known as 150-pound football. The name changed to sprint football in 1998.
Rutgers extends gratitude and appreciation to lightweight football letterwinners Gary Way and Alton Dixson, who through their tremendous work laid the foundation this website. A pair of true "Rutgers Men," these former teammates and roommates toiled meticulously for countless hours, using every means they could think of, in gathering information on the history of Rutgers lightweight football, whether it be tracking down former letterwinners via the web, searching the archives at Alexander Library, the Daily Targum, etc.
Every effort has been made to make this page a one-stop website for historical data, facts and records. However, it is understood that record-keeping over the past several decades may have been insufficient in some areas, leading to the unintentional omission of specific details. Therefore, this lightweight football website will serve as an evolving source of pertinent and historical information about the program.
In addition to the efforts of Mr. Way and Mr. Dixson, John Beisser (LC' 86) worked tirelessly to help bring this website to fruition. As a student, Beisser served as sports director of WRSU and columnist/feature writer for the Daily Targum. From 1991-2006, Beisser worked in the Rutgers Athletic Communications office and it’s that nearly four decades of Rutgers knowledge that he relied on along with months of research to bring the lightweight football website to life.
If you are in possession of any information that may add value to this website, or can point to others who might have access to additional information, or have corrections, please contact Hasim Phillips at hphillips@scarletknights.com.
