Lehigh University and the Lehigh-Lafayette Rivalry are a big deal to Michael Seward ’79, just as they have been to three generations of 50-Game Club Sewards. This year, the retired Miami, Florida, attorney is planning to attend what he believes may be his 50th game.
The exact count is a little murky since Michael attended some of those 50 games as a toddler, joining his father, Thomas ’53 ’79P ’82P, and grandfather, Harold “Mickey” Seward ’30 ’53P ’79GP, at the family’s tailgates.
Family legend has it that as Seward’s Irish great-grandfather was planning to emigrate to America, he met someone acquainted with Asa Packer. “That man told my great-grandfather that if he did well in America and could send his children to college, he should look at Lehigh University,” Michael says. So his great-grandfather moved to Bethlehem, and his son, Mickey, became the first Lehigh grad in the family.
“I think my grandfather may hold the record for the most consecutive Lehigh-Lafayette games — the Bulletin says 66,” Michael says. “My dad also saw more than 50 games in his lifetime. So I’ll be a third-generation 50-Game Club member.”
The Seward family legacy now spans four generations: Besides his grandfather and father, alumni include Michael’s siblings Greg ’82 and Lisa Seward Kirwan ’85, and his late brother’s son, Gregory Seward II ’20. Lehigh football has a place in all their hearts — Thomas established a football scholarship that his children have continued even after their father’s passing.
The Seward tradition of Lehigh-Lafayette Rivalry attendance continues, with family members returning from Florida, Texas, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania to witness the gridiron competition.
“I’m just so proud of Lehigh,” Michael says. “I brag about it and talk about it all the time to my friends here in Florida. I’m a huge Miami Hurricanes fan, but I get just as much excitement watching Lehigh and Lafayette as I do watching pro football.”