Livingstone Blue Bears football


The Livingstone Blue Bears football program is an intercollegiate American football team for Livingstone College located in Salisbury, North Carolina. The team competes in NCAA Division II as a member of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association. The school's first team was fielded in 1892 as the first historically black college to play football. The team plays its home games at Alumni Memorial Stadium.
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History

1892: Founding

The Livingstone Blue Bears football team was founded in the fall of 1892. The members of the team all chipped in and purchased the first uniforms. They played their [1892 1892 Biddle football team|Biddle vs. Livingstone football game|first game] against Biddle on their front lawn, marking the first time two historically black colleges and universities faced off for a football game. They played two 45-minute halves with Biddle winning 5–0. They have since made a rivalry named the "Commemorative Classic" which is played every year.

1883–1930: Early years

In 1903, the Blue Bears were featured in The Charlotte Observer, which stated: "Livingstone has defeated all comers this year, and claims the championship of the colored colleges of the state". They finished that season with a known record of 3–0, defeating Bennett College twice and Y.M.I. once.
In 1906, the Livingstone self-proclaimed themselves "The Colored College Champions" under head coach Benjamin Butler Church.
In 1913, Livingstone finished the season with a 5–0 record, their second and final undefeated season in school history.
In 1926, the Blue Bears finished the season with a 2–5 record. This would be their last season under Church before James Meeks took over in 1927. Church finished with a 42–20–9 during his 16 seasons with Livingstone.

1931–1973: Reclassification

The Blue Bears were Southern Independents from 1892 to 1930, joining the Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1931, finishing that season 0–5–3.
In 1973, Livingstone College reclassified from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II along with the CIAA. They would finish the season 7–2–1.

1974–present: Rise to fame

In 1992, the 1892 football team was inducted into the Livingstone College Athletics Hall of Fame.
In 1994, the Blue Bears hired Rudy Abrams, a Livingstone alumni, as their head coach. In 1997, he led them to an 8–2 regular season record and a CIAA co-championship before losing in the inaugural Pioneer Bowl to Kentucky State, 30–26. In 1998, he led them to another CIAA co-championship with a 7–3 regular season record before again losing in the Pioneer Bowl, this time to Tuckegee, 23–9. After the 1998 season, Abrams was hired to be the head football coach of the North Carolina Central Eagles, where he coached for four seasons before retiring in 2002. He finished his tenure at Livingstone with a 33–18–1 record. In 2005, Abrams was inducted into the Livingstone College Athletics Hall of Fame.
In 2006, Tony Veal was inducted into the Livingstone College Athletics Hall of Fame.
In 2019, both Charles Cooley and Michael Posey were inducted into the Livingstone College Athletics Hall of Fame.
In 2020, Livingstone hired 1992 third overall pick, Sean Gilbert, as their new head football coach. His first season would be cancelled after the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. In his second season as head coach, Gilbert finished with a 1–8 record.

Affiliations

Classifications

Conference memberships

Championships

Conference

† Co-champion

Season-by-season records

= National champions
= Conference champions
= Conference co-champions
= Conference division champions and championship game berth
= Undefeated season

Head coaches

# Interim head coach

Individual accomplishments

All-Americans

BTR = BOXTOROW

Award winners

CIAA Offensive Player of the Year

Notable former players

Rudy Abrams, head coach, 1960–1963, 1994–1998