The Crutch

Hamill House Flag

Kennedy House Flag

The Crutch, 2009

The tradition of the Crutch game began in the fall of 1947 when, during practice, Kennedy House football coach John (“Jack”) Chivers ’24 impulsively grabbed the ball and ran, shouting to his players, “Catch me!” Sandy Souter ’49 obeyed and tackled the coach, resulting in Chivers’ broken leg. A few weeks later, as the recuperating Chivers stood on the sideline at the season’s final game between Kennedy and Hamill, Souter’s sideline tackle of Hamill fullback Jeb Wofford ’49 also took out the injured coach, breaking his wooden crutch. Since then, the broken Crutch, updated with a series of slats that list the annual game results, remains in the possession of whichever house last won the pivotal Hamill-Kennedy game.