MIT's Unlikely, Undefeated Football Team by the Numbers
Team of brainiac athletes is heading to the playoffs.
— -- They're brainiacs with brawn.
During the day, students on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology football team study topics such as nuclear engineering and aeronautics, but for two hours every evening, they're on the gridiron. And now the unlikely jocks are making history in the sports world, going into their first-ever playoff game on Saturday as an undefeated team.
"It's nice to see our players get this kind of attention for what they're doing on the field because they are all-stars, if you will, off the field," MIT Engineers head coach Chad Martinovich told ABC News today. "I am really proud of them and happy for them."
MIT is known for academics, not sports, so the balance between the two can be tricky, one player noted.
Wide receiver Nathan Varady, a junior studying mechanical engineering with plans to go to medical school, told ABC News that the secret is time-management.
"You just have to be very disciplined," he said. "It's very structured. You don't waste time because you can't."
Here's what to know about the brainiac athletes, by the numbers:
Zero: Number of losses this season.
2: Number of hours, between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., that MIT designates as non-academic time, allowing for football practice.
5: Number of future rocket scientists on MIT's football team. Technically, they're studying aeronautics and astronautics.
Other majors represented on the team include electrical engineering and computer science, mathematics and economics.
But, as Martinovich said: "There's no easy major at MIT."
9: Number of wins this season. In other words, every game.
"It's been awesome," Varady said. "We're just excited to be winning and want to keep it going this weekend."
17: Number of players on the team who were high school valedictorians.
1881: The year MIT's football team was introduced. Also, the last time the team was undefeated, finishing the season 3-0.
