They shall never play again
Posted March 31st, 2010 by Murray By Moonlight
Filed under: Elements Of Truth, False, Urban Legends
Tags: historical, popular beliefs, university
A young man tragically killed in a football game. A horrified and wealthy alumnus who endowed the University with a million dollars — but only if they ceased playing the dangerous game. Is this the reason why they don’t play football at Drury University?
Urban Legends are fascinating things – they can spread across the globe like wildfire, or they can occupy a small but important place in the culture of a local community.
At Drury University in Springfield, Missouri, there’s a story that is told to explain why the University cancelled its football program many years ago.
According to Dr Bill Garvin, a popular version goes something like this:
A persistent “campus legend” here at Drury is that Drury’s football program was canceled after a student was killed playing in a game. One common variation of the story is that a rich alumnus was so horrified by the death of the student that she gave a million dollars to the college on the condition that Drury’s football program would be shut down.
