Q. Did Mississippi College ever play football in Mexico?

In 1929, Mexican officials invited Mississippi College to Mexico City to play football against their newly formed team.  Mississippi College accepted the invitation, and in November 1929 a team consisting of 22 players, a manager, Coach Stanley Robinson, and then MC President Provine flew to Mexico. During the visit, the MC players were entertained at the National Palace by then President of Mexico, Emilio Portes-Gil, and at the American Embassy.

MC won the football game 28-0, and the MC Tribesman wrote, “Tell it to your grandchildren.  Mississippi College’s team was the first one in the state to play an international game of football, and the second in America.”

In 1930, the Mexican team came to Mississippi and played at a stadium in Jackson, with the Mexican Ambassador among the attendees. MC won this game as well, with a score of 40-0.  The series continued throughout the 1940s and until the 1960s.

But Dr. Charles Martin, in his history of MC, wrote that the most memorable game was the game that was never played. In November 1963, the MC football team, the Marching Band, and the Choctaw Maidens Drill Team all traveled to Mexico City.  The game was scheduled for November 23.  But an event occurred in Dallas, Texas on November 22 that caused the game to be cancelled.  President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and out of respect, the Mexican government declared a three-day period of mourning, thus eliminating the football game. As the MC group waited in the airport to return home, the public television set showed the U.S. Marine Corp Band playing “The Star Spangled Banner.”  Band President Richard Joiner recalls that all those in the waiting area, no matter the nationality, rose and stood at attention.

In 1964, the team from Mexico again traveled to Jackson to play.  But scheduling became more difficult, and the series between Mississippi College and the University of Mexico was discontinued.

Information from Mississippi College with Pride: A History of Mississippi College 1826-2004

by Dr. Charles E. Martin