September 13, 2022 Submitted by Thomas Hoffman
Owen O’Brien and Grady Harrington have played plenty of football together.
O’Brien and Harrington have been teammates in Hingham Youth Football and at Hingham High School (class of 2020) and now as defensive starters for the Saints of St. Lawrence University. O’Brien is a second year starter at strong safety while Harrington, is also a second year starter at cornerback. Last Saturday they helped the Saints to a 30-19 victory over the Cadets of Norwich University in the 20th Hoffman Cup Game.
The win was extra special for O’Brien and Harrington as the Hoffman Cup has a Hingham connection. The first Hoffman Cup was played in 2003 between St. Lawrence and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point) as the Hoffman Cup was an 80th birthday present to Captain Richard A. Hoffman by his son Tom and daughter-in-law Debbie of Hingham. Captain Hoffman was a 1944 graduate of Kings Point and also enjoyed his visits to St. Lawrence where Tom graduated from in 1975(Captain Hoffmans granddaughter Colby is a 2020 St. Lawrence grad). Captain Hoffman was alive for the first three games in the series all won by Kings Point, of course. When Kings Point decided to leave the Liberty league after the 15th Hoffman Cup, Norwich university became a natural replacement to continue the Hoffman Cup. Norwich is the oldest private military college in the country having just celebrated its 203rd anniversary. Last Saturday’s game was the 66th between St. Lawrence and Norwich making it the country’s longest Division 3 non-conference football rivalry.