[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 169 (Tuesday, November 17, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1641]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            IN HONOR OF 100 SEASONS OF SHSU BEARKAT FOOTBALL

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                            HON. KEVIN BRADY

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 17, 2015

  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Mr. Speaker, in Texas, fall means football, and 
this fall marks a special football milestone for Sam Houston State 
University. Our Bearkats are celebrating 100 seasons of hard fought 
contests on the college football gridiron.
  What happens at Elliot T. Bowers Stadium today has its roots in a 
cotton patch in the outfield of Joseph Pritchett Field in Huntsville, 
Texas. On October 6, 1912 the team from Sam Houston Teachers College 
faced off against a ``pugnacious'', as one observer remarked, Rice 
Institute to begin the inaugural season of Sam Houston football. Since 
then, football has been a continuous sport at Sam Houston, except for 
the war years--1918, during World War I, and 1943, 1944 and 1945, 
during World War II.
  The inaugural season saw Sam Houston end with an even 2-2 record. 
That first team was comprised of just 19 students with the average 
player weighing in at just 135 pounds. Their leather helmets cost $3 
each and fully-padded pants of heavy canvas were $12. Today, the 
Bearkat squad has 100 players with an average weight of over 200 
pounds. And it cost about $800 to outfit each player for game day.
  This year's ``Century Season'' brings with it a legacy of big 
rivalries and even bigger accomplishments.
  In October, Sam Houston State returned home victorious over Stephen 
F. Austin State University in the 90th edition of the Battle of the 
Piney Woods. This timeless rivalry between the Bearkats and the 
Lumberjacks began in 1923 and is one of the three oldest continuous 
rivalries in Texas college football.
  Sam Houston has competed and won championships in four different 
leagues: the Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association, Lone Star 
Conference, Gulf Star Conference and Southland Conference.
  The team played its first bowl game, the Shrimp Bowl, in 1952. In 
1964, our Bearkats were National Association of Intercollegiate 
Athletics (NAIA) Co-National Champions.
  Sam Houston State boasts six Southland Conference Championships, the 
most recent just last year.
  Bearkat teams have made eight Football Championship Subdivision 
Playoff appearances, including trips to the National Championship Game 
in 2012 and 2013 and the National Semi-Finals in 2004 and 2014.
  And, our Bearkats are also close to another major milestone--their 
1000th game. With such an exciting first century, we can't wait to see 
what the next hundred years will bring. Eat `Em Up, Kats!

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