THROGGS NECK, N.Y. – For many years, the Maritime Football team has made their way onto the field under the "Jolly Roger" skull and crossbones battle flag. The tradition of carrying out the flag began over 10 years ago, when it was given to the program as a tribute to a retired U.S. Navy Lieutenant.
 
Dating back to the 18th century, flags of this nature were flown to identify a pirate ship readying for attack and preparing for battle. This is similar to how the Privateer Football team prepares for a 60-minute battle on the gridiron each week.
 
The actual flag that the Privateers carry out as a team before each game is a nautical heirloom, which was made in 1938 by a Navy enlisted signalman who worked for Captain Ross E. Freeman on board the U.S.S. McCall.
 
The flag remained with Freeman throughout his career, which including three equator crossings, a time-honored Navy tradition. The flag also flew over the U.S.S. Ozbourn during the first guided missile test firing, and was also aboard the U.S.S. Miami as part of the Pacific Fast Carrier Task Force in World War II, and later aboard the U.S.S. Juneau during the Korean War.
 
Freeman retired from the Navy in 1965 and spent the next 11 years guiding the Institute of Navigation in Washington, D.C., where he later retired as President of the organization. He passed away in April of 1993 and left the flag with his son, Ross Freeman, Jr., who himself had retired at the rank of Captain from the United States Army.
 
Years after inheriting the flag from his father, Captain Freeman presented the flag to Maritime Head Coach Clayton Kendrick-Holmes after he had accepted the head coaching position at Maritime College. Freeman and Kendrick-Holmes met several years prior, when the latter was serving as Head Coach of the Naval Academy Preparatory School.
 
The flag was given to Kendrick-Holmes and the team in honor of Captain Ross E. Freeman Sr., in the hope that its spirit would inspire Maritime students to persevere and succeed against all obstacles.
 
The Privateer Football player or coach, who leads the team onto the field, is an honorary game captain, voted on by members of the team as representing the team's core values.
 
The Maritime Football team is off this weekend, but is looking ahead to take on Saturday, October 1 when the Privateers open up Easter Collegiate Football Conference play with a 1 p.m. kickoff on Reinhart Field against Husson.