The last time DeSean Jackson and Michael Vick coached against each other at Lincoln Financial Field, nearly 50,000 people showed up. That was last October, when Delaware State beat Norfolk State 27-20 in the first HBCU Battle of the Legends. On Tuesday, Delaware State made it official: they’re doing it again. Same field. Same former Eagles stars on opposite sidelines. Same Saturday in October, this time Oct. 31 at 2 p.m. ET.
The rematch was confirmed by an email obtained by HBCU Pulse on ClutchPoints. And frankly, nobody should be surprised. Last year’s game drew 47,266 fans — one of the biggest regular-season crowds for any HBCU football game in the country. ESPNU televised it. Marching bands, step shows, student events. It turned into a full weekend celebration of HBCU culture, not just a football game.
Now the city of Philadelphia is doubling down. Lincoln Financial Field will host two HBCU games in two days this time around. Virginia Union plays Lincoln University on Friday, Oct. 30. Then Delaware State and Norfolk State take over Saturday. The whole thing is part of an expanded One Philly HBCU Week, which feels like the city’s way of saying: yeah, we want this to be a permanent thing.
Delaware State president Tony Allen put it this way in a statement: “Last October, we wanted to prove one thing: the moment is ours. A faithful community of people representing generations of fourth-and-long, miracle plays, and living to learn to fight another day, for ourselves, our communities, and each other.” He added: “That is the story of HBCUs, and it is as relevant today as it was when we first began.”
Philadelphia mayor Cherelle L. Parker, a Lincoln University grad, also weighed in. She said she knows “what it means for a young person to walk into a room and see excellence that looks like them.” Her point: this isn’t just a football game. It’s visibility. It’s Black excellence on a national stage, in an NFL stadium, with two Hall of Fame-caliber players as head coaches.
Jackson’s Hornets Are Flying. Vick’s Spartans Are Hungry.
Last year’s game was a milestone for both first-year head coaches, but in very different ways. Jackson’s Delaware State team won eight games — the program’s first winning season in over a decade. They finished 4-1 in the MEAC and even pulled off an upset of North Carolina Central. That 27-20 win over Norfolk State was part of a run that turned the Hornets into one of the best stories in FCS football.
For Vick, it was the opposite. His Norfolk State team started slow, lost a lopsided homecoming game to South Carolina State, and never really recovered. They lost all five remaining conference games and finished 1-8. But programs like that don’t turn around overnight. And having a coach with Vick’s star power running the show means the Spartans will keep getting attention — and recruits — even while they rebuild.
Jackson Played Coy. Now It’s Real.
At MEAC Media Day last week, reporters asked Jackson whether the game would return to Philly. He smiled. He deflected. “It may or may not be,” he told HBCU Gameday. “It ain’t 100%. It’s not a no or yes. It may be yes, it may not. I just want to tell you, just stay tuned.”
Well, now we know. And the rematch is officially on. If last year was the proof of concept, this year feels like the moment where this thing becomes a real annual fixture — one that brings HBCU football into the same conversation as the NFL, the way it should’ve been all along.
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