Yale QB may have to choose between Rhodes Scholarship interview and Harvard game

I hate when this happens. Yale quarterback Patrick Witt is slightly overbooked for Nov. 19th: on that day he has both the Harvard-Yale football game and a Rhodes Scholarship interview. You may have heard of these. The Harvard-Yale game originated in 1875, and is the second-longest continuing rivalry in college football. On the other hand, the Rhodes Scholarship interview can get you into the University of Oxford, which is the second-oldest university in the world (some say dating back as far as 1096).

The Harvard-Yale game is so old, the first time they played it, only extra points counted. Harvard won, 4-0.

The University of Oxford, meanwhile, has produced 12 saints.

Witt’s interview will be at Emory University in Atlanta. Interviews begin at 8 a.m., but he doesn’t know when his will be. The football game begins at noon.

“It’s still very new, it’s still very fresh just finding out this information,” Witt told the Yale Daily News. “So I need to kind of reevaluate. If the Rhodes Committee is willing to work with me, in a perfect world, I can interview first thing in the morning and get on a flight to be back in time for the game on Saturday. But I don’t know if that will be possible.”

Witt transferred to Yale from the University of Nebraska, where he held a 4.0 GPA. He continued his academic success in New Haven, where he carries a 3.91 GPA. After serving as the starting quarterback at Yale for two seasons, he’s on track to break all the school’s major passing records.

Witt should take heed, and learn from the experiences of another Yale football player who faced a similar dilemma:

In 2008, another Yale football standout was named a finalist for a Rhodes Scholarship. Luckily for defensive back Casey Gerald, his interview fell on the day before the game against Harvard. Gerald traveled to Texas for his interview and made it back to New England just hours before kickoff. He lost both the scholarship and the game.

Look, my only advice is to use a wakeup service that day. You’d hate to oversleep and miss both appointments.

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Patrick Witt Rhodes Scholar: Yale Quarterback May Have To Choose Between Prestigious Interview And Harvard Game [Huffington Post]