Rutgers’ Lord Nelson, a horse, dies at 42
Rutgers announced Tuesday that Lord Nelson, a horse that was a member of the university’s police department, died on April 12. It was 42.
The horse was the first member of the school’s mounted police department and also the school’s only equine professor emeritus. Which makes sense because if a school has more than one equine professor emeritus things, start to get a little weird.
Why are we writing about a horse? Well, according to the school, Lord Nelson is the only horse to ever be penalized in an NCAA football game. Seriously.
Lord Nelson will also be remembered as the first, and only, horse to ever receive an official football penalty in a NCAA football game. In addition to his time with the student mounted patrol, Nelson also served as the horse that was ridden by the Scarlet Knight at Rutgers football games. During a close game against Army in 1994, Nelson broke onto the field and raced all the way down the sideline to the opposite end of Giants Stadium. Receiving a yellow flag for his “un-sportsHORSE-man like conduct,” he almost cost Rutgers the game.
If you can find any video of the penalty, please let us know. We have come up empty so far.
Rutgers won the game 16-14. The Scarlet Knights were quarterbacked that season by Ray Lucas, who played for the New York Jets. The team’s leading receiver was tight end Marco Battaglia, who also played in the NFL. Army was coached by current Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Bob Sutton.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
