INTRODUCTION

Since the very beginning, sports have been a huge part of our family. Both my great-grandfather and father have successfully played a sport in college. My father, Justis Durkee, played basketball at UC Davis and won the national championship in 1989. My grandfather, Walt Henicke, played football at Stanford and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1956. Growing up, our elders inspired my sister and I. We tried almost every sport, including lacrosse, swimming, basketball, track and field, volleyball, dance, soccer, softball, and water polo. If my memory is correct, I enjoyed 80% of those sports. Currently, my sister and I play year-round soccer, which we both deeply enjoy. I’ve always thought of and wondered what it was like to be a college athlete. I did some research on my grandfather's career of playing football at Stanford and quickly got engaged. 

THE FIRST STEP

Stanford's football history did not begin traditionally. Not long after Stanford's first enrollment in the fall of 1891, a group of students visited John R. Whittemore's dorm room in Encina Hall. They came to him knowing that Whittemore was the only student on campus with collegiate football experience and that he was a transfer from Washington University in St. Louis, they were curious about forming a football team. Shortly after, Whitemore decided to take the initiative as the new coach of Stanford football. 

Not too long after, Cal Football, who had been playing since 1882, had requested Stanford for a 

 Thanksgiving Day Match. Whittemore was aware that his team was not too developed and would not be prepared, especially against a more trained team. A few months later, Whittemore decided that he would accept this challenge after noticing significant growth in his team. After Cal agreed, the game was scheduled for the spring. 

The game was played at Haight Street Grounds in San Francisco. It was built for about 15,000 people. 10,000 tickets were printed, but about 20,000 people attended. The future US president Herbert Hoover, a Stanford student manager at the time, was the only experienced person involved in the game's planning. He helped make the game happen and managed money for the ones who wished to come. To get free tickets, Hoover and the Call manager had to gather coins in anything they could find. They even went to the extent of renting dishpans and a wash boiler from nearby houses to receive free tickets.

An issue occurred as the captains moved to the middle of the field for the coin toss. As they came together, they noticed that nobody remembered to pack a ball. A sports good man left on a horseback to retrieve one. After a few hours of delay, he delivered a ball that wasn't exactly regulation. No one could care at that moment. 

Driven by speed and cleverness, Stanford shocked the favored Cal team with three long-run touchdowns in the first half. Two of them were scored by Carl Clemans. Stanford had led 14-0 after his first touchdown, which happened on a 45-yard reverse play. But in the second half, Cal took over Stanford due to their size and strength advantages, scoring two touchdowns and attempting more as time ran down.

Neither Hoover nor the Cal manager ended up watching the match. They were stuck up in a hotel room counting coins one by one, dividing $30,000. This meant they had funded Stanford football for the following season. With Stanford's 14–10 victory, both schools played their first college football match, and a storied rivalry was born.

  THE COMMUNITY 

Stanford football will always be on the elite side creating a remarkable community. Their community is filled with joy, dedication, and engagement to all players, families, and friends. On game days, almost half of Stanford Stadium's undergraduate student crowd gathers in the Red Zone producing a loud pride of Cardinal enthusiasm. No one ever felt the need to hide from embarrassment. At games, there is an unbelievable sixty minutes of football played that will leave you amazed and wide-eyed at Stanford.  With many testimonials Including  “It’s a great stadium, intimate with excellent sight line. Nice crowd, we’ve made many friends among the season ticket holders. We love the band and the tree. And of course, the team's amazing performance in recent years has been thrilling”(unknown). They also bring an outstanding college encounter full of customs, passion, and friendship. With all of this, officials have ranked Stanford as one of the best teams to watch in 2016 and the university has a 46-6 record in games played at Stanford Stadium Since 2008. 

      CARDINAL STATISTICS

 Unmatched academic and athletic excellence put together Stanford University's football team as one the top. Starting, Stanford is the first team in history to be placed in the top four by both the Associated Press (3rd) and U.S. News and World Report (4th) in the same year. The Associated Press is “The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting.” Stanford has made a school-record seven straight playoff trips. With Stanford’s driven dedication to their Sport, academics are just as important to them with the graduation rate being 99%. highest in the country since 2010. Stanford has had 66 straight victories throughout these ten years. Being the 4th most in the FBS. ( Football Subdivision). They have won 3 PAC-12 championships since 2012. To top all of this off, 24 NFL draft selections have been made with many more in the workings.