The Tufts Jumbos football program represents Tufts University in the sport of college football. The team competes in Division III of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a member of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). Tufts plays its home games at Ellis Oval, located on the campus within the municipality of Somerville, Massachusetts. The team's head coach is Jay Civetti, who has led the Jumbos since 2011.
A Tufts football team has played since the 1874âÂÂ75 season. The Tufts football team played its first game on June 4, 1875, against Harvard, which Tufts won by a score of 1âÂÂ0. This game is considered the first game of American football between two American colleges, with each team fielding 11 men, the ball being advanced by kicking or carrying it, and tackles of the ball carrier stopping play. During the 1875âÂÂ76 season, Tufts played Bates on the Bates campus in Lewiston, Maine, for the first organized intercollegiate football game played in Maine.
In one of the largest shutout wins in team history, Tufts defeated the 1914 New Hampshire football team by a score of 83âÂÂ0.
One Tufts player, William Grinnell (1909âÂÂ1997), a varsity member during the 1930s, has been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
The 1,000th game in team history was played during the 2006 season.
In 1951, the College Football Hall of Fame opened in South Bend, Indiana. Since then, Tufts has had 1 player inducted into the Hall of Fame.