Army-Navy: Will President Biden attend the game at MetLife Stadium?

There’s still no word on whether Joe Biden will attend the Army-Navy game as sitting U.S. President. He did attend the 2012 game as vice president.

Donald Trump attended the game from 2016-20 (the first as president-elect). Harry Truman attended six consecutive years (1945-50) and again in 1952 fresh out of office. George W. Bush attended in 2001, 2004 and 2008.

The first U.S. president to attend Army-Navy was Theodore Roosevelt in 1901 and 1905. Woodrow Wilson was there in 1913. Calvin Coolidge was at the 1924 game.

Gerald Ford attended in 1974, the first president to do so since John F. Kennedy in 1961-62. Bill Clinton attended in 1996 and Barack Obama in 2011.

A new location

The Army-Navy Classic will have its 18th stadium/field destination since the series began 131 years ago. MetLife Stadium, home of the NFL’s Giants and Jets, will serve as host for the first time. East Rutherford, New Jersey, also hosted at the old Giants Stadium in 1989, 1993, 1997 and 2002.

The New York metropolitan area also saw games hosted at the old Polo Grounds, home of MLB’s New York Giants and later the Mets, in 1913, 1915-21, 1923, 1925 and 1927. The original Yankee Stadium hosted in 1930-31.

The academies settled on Philadelphia as “permanent” host city, essentially splitting the travel distance for both schools. Franklin Field – home for Penn football and the NFL’s Eagles from 1958-70, from 1899-1904, 1906-1912, 1914, 1922 and 1932-35. Municipal Stadium – later renamed John F. Kennedy Stadium in 1964 – hosted 41 Army-Navy games from 1936-41 and 1945-1979. Veterans Stadium – home of MLB’s Phillies and NFL’s Eagles – hosted from 1980-82, 1984-88, 1990-92, 1994-96, 1998-99 and 2001. The Eagles moved to Lincoln Financial Field and the Classic has been played there in 2003-06, 2008-10, 2012-15, 2017-19 and will return in 2022.

Other host sites have included Princeton’s Osborne Field (1905); Baltimore’s Municipal Stadium (1924); Chicago’s Soldier Field (1926); the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California (1983); Baltimore’s current M&T Bank Stadium (2000, 2007, 2016); and, FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland (2011).

The Army-Navy game got its start in 1890 on “The Plain” at West Point and again in 1892. Worden Field in Annapolis, Maryland, got host duties in 1891 and 1893. The academies also hosted during World War II – 1942 at Thompson Stadium in Annapolis and 1943 at Michie Stadium. Last year’s game set for Lincoln Financial was moved to Michie Stadium to allow for both student sections to attend in full.

GameDay Redux

ESPN’s highly acclaimed College GameDay pregame show will be live on site at MetLife Stadium at its accustomed time of 9 a.m. There will be features on both Army and Navy, and the crew will take a closer look at all of the college bowl games.

The ESPN anchors are Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Lee Corso, David Pollack and picks guy Chris “The Bear” Fallica.

CBS is broadcasting the game. Brad Nessler will have the play-by-play call. Gary Danielson will be the analyst. This is the fifth consecutive game for Nessler and 13th for Danielson, who was formerly partnered with the retired Verne Lundquist.

Famed play-by-play announcers include Curt Gowdy, Lindsey Nelson, Chris Schenkel, Bill Flemming, Keith Jackson, Al Michaels, Brent Musburger, Jim Nantz and Dick Enberg. There’s also been Mark Jones, Sean McDonough and Ian Eagle.

kmcmillan@th-record.com

Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR

This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Army West Point Navy NCAA college football U.S. presidents attend