Sometimes, local sporting-event history isn't made on the field of play. That was the case on Dec. 2, 1961, when John F. Kennedy attended the Army-Navy game at what was then called Municipal Stadium (on the current site of the Wells Fargo Center).
So epic was the visit that traffic on Broad Street was routed to run southbound-only starting at 10 a.m. to handle traffic of "evacuation proportions," according to that day's Daily News. Coverage was bigger on logistics and protocol than X's and O's. As a spectator, JFK, though a Navy man, would "maintain traditional impartiality," the paper assured. "He will sit on the Army (west) side for the first half, and the Navy (east) side for the last half." For the record, Navy won, 13-7. Kennedy returned on Dec. 1, 1962, to attend the next year's Army-Navy game.
