Dick Friedman

Dick Friedman, a contributing editor of Harvard Magazine, is one of the foremost experts on the history of Crimson football. In 2023 he spearheaded the magazine’s naming of Harvard’s 150th Anniversary all-time team.

Friedman is a 1973 graduate of Harvard College with a degree cum laude in U.S. history. A career-long journalist, he spent 18 years as an editor and writer at Sports Illustrated. Since 2014 he has written for Harvard Magazine mainly about Harvard football but also about other topics—sports and non-sports.

Friedman is the author of “The Coach Who Strangled the Bulldog: How Harvard’s Percy Haughton Beat Yale and Reinvented Football” (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018). He has been awarded the magazine’s Smith-Weld and McCord prizes for writing, and has received honorable mention in the Game Story category from the Football Writers Association of America. Friedman’s most talked-about article is his cover profile of coach Tim Murphy for the November-December 2015 issue of Harvard Magazine—unless it is his April Fool’s online spoof in 2024 in which he “broke the news” that the Ivy League and the Big Ten were merging.

In Friedman’s game stories, profiles and season wrap-ups, he strives to report “without fear or favor,” presenting accurate accounts of the action, celebrating exemplary performances by opponents and not downplaying miscues by Crimson players and coaches.

Harvard Football: Yale 34-Harvard 29

A dispiriting Game yields a second straight three-way title tie.

Harvard Football: Harvard 31- Penn 28

A relief pitcher leads the Crimson to a title share. And now…The Game!

Harvard Football: Harvard 26-Columbia 6

The Crimson throttles the Lions and keeps a hold on first place.

Harvard Football: Harvard 31-Dartmouth 27

A fourth-quarter rally vaults the Crimson into first place.

Harvard Football: Harvard 45-Princeton 13

The Crimson emphatically snaps a six-game losing streak to the Tigers

Harvard Football Harvard 35-Holy Cross 34

The Crimson outlasts the Crusaders. Next up: Princeton

Harvard Football- Harvard 38-Cornell 20

A torrent of touchdowns in the second quarter keys the first Ivy win

Harvard Football- Harvard 28-New Hampshire 23

A solid bounce-back win against a rugged nonconference foe

Harvard Football-Brown 31- Harvard 28

The first Ivy game yields a ghastly last-minute defeat.

Football: Harvard 35 - Stetson-0

A new coaching tenure begins with a romp in the rain.