In a rapidly-changing world, this Rhode Island football tradition endures
PROVIDENCE — The annual football game for the Governor’s Cup dates back two generations. The meetings between Brown and the University of Rhode Island span nearly six.
The ever-shifting world of college athletics will grind to a halt for a few hours Saturday afternoon. The Bears and Rams will kick off as they’ve done since 1909, a rivalry that continues in the face of various changes.
Conference realignment? Can’t imagine the Ivy League is about to add or shed members after 70 years as an athletics entity and nearly 180 as cooperating educational institutions. Name, image and likeness? Kingston will offer some added value to your scholarship, but that new Maybach purchased by Shedeur Sanders is probably out of your price range.
This is tradition for the good of it and football for the competition of it. The reward for the last four decades has been that silver trophy, and it will be on the Brown Stadium sidelines for the noon start.
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“Right now in the national landscape everyone wants the next thing — how to change this, how to change that,” Brown coach James Perry said. “What a great honor and privilege to be part of this.”
Perry views the game from a unique perspective. He's been both player and coach, a star quarterback with Brown from 1996-99 and the leader of its program since 2019. Perry was 2-2 in this game under center and seeks a first victory on the sidelines in his fourth try.
“The Cup is on the field,” URI coach Jim Fleming said. “The kids are aware of what we’re playing for. We know Brown is going to come in and give their very best efforts. We’re going to do the same thing.”
Right, the kids — they’re the ones who provide us with an afternoon’s worth of entertainment. Would Brown rather just get on with the next six weeks of its league schedule? Would URI rather get back to pursuing an FCS playoff berth through the Coastal Athletic Association?
“It’s such a big game,” Brown receiver Wes Rockett said. “Like Coach said — a 107-game tradition. It means a lot to us as a group and to everybody in the state.”
“The fact that it’s still a thing and there’s still this much hype around it every year, I think that’s huge,” URI linebacker Evan Stewart said. “It’s definitely something you looking forward to. Just winning a trophy, I think, is really cool.”
So, there it is. That’s testimony straight from each locker room. And no other game for either team comes with a midweek trip downtown for coaches and captains, a formal press conference in the Governor’s State Room and the guarantee of a celebratory presentation after the final whistle.
“These are guys who are going to go out there and battle,” Perry said. “That’s how it should be done. When you have an opportunity to play for the Cup — a 107-game tradition — you want to have guys who understand that.”
“We’re very aware of the significance in this state of the rivalry between Brown and URI,” Fleming said. “The people we represent like to see that game on a year-to-year basis. It’s very important.”
The Bears (2-1) host Princeton next week, their first conference home game of 2023. The Rams (3-2) begin a run of five straight league games by hosting Richmond. Those contests will have sizzle in their own right, but these stakes are clearly a little different.
It’s been that way for a long time. Let’s hope at least for a few more years.
On X: @BillKoch25
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Brown vs. URI football game endures after more than a century
