Pigskin Pre-Game event kicks off MTSU football season

The annual Pigskin Pre-Game will once again kick off the Middle Tennessee State University Blue Raiders football season for alumni and friends of the university.

A fundraiser for the Alumni Legacy Scholarship, the event will begin at 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 19, at The Grove at Williamson Place, 3250 Wilkinson Pike, just off Medical Center Parkway near Interstate 24, in Murfreesboro.

Blue Raider alumni, friends and fans wait in line for food at 2016 Pigskin Pre-Game.

MTSU alumni, friends and fans of Blue Raider football talk and visit as they wait in line for food during Pigskin Pre-Game 2016 at The Grove at Williamson Place in Murfreesboro in this August 2016 photo. This marks the third straight year at The Grove. The event is a fundraiser for the Alumni Legacy Scholarship. (MTSU file photo by Kimi Conro)

“We are excited for another Pigskin Pre-Game,” said Ginger Freeman, MTSU Alumni Relations director. “It is a fun time for alumni and community to get ready for Blue Raider football and support the Alumni Legacy Scholarship.”

“The proceeds from Pigskin Pregame go to fund the Alumni Legacy Scholarship, which only children and grandchildren of MTSU graduates are eligible to apply for,” Freeman added.

Freeman said “almost $50,000 in scholarships during the last five years have been awarded, largely because of the support we receive from the community, our terrific sponsors and the MTSU faculty and staff for events like Pigskin Pre-Game every year.”

Tickets for the event will be $35 per person. Children 12 and under are free. Those planning to attend must prepay and RSVP by Thursday, Aug. 10, to secure the ticket.

Coach Rick Stockstill and members of his staff and other coaches and administrators in the athletics department plan to attend.

Free parking is located on-site and the event will be held rain or shine.

Steel Barrel Brewery will be at the event this year and its ownership and management are excited for people in the area to try their beer, especially since they are partnering on the new MTSU fermentation science program, Freeman said.

Mayday Brewery and Stones River Total Beverages also will be at the event, as will caterer Tasty Table and the Tennessee Pork Producers.

MTSU alumna Kelsey Steele, a country music singer and songwriter from Nashville, will provide music.

For more information about the event or to reserve tickets, call 615-898-2922 or visit www.mtalumni.com.

— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)

Melinda Samuels gives coach Rick Stockstill a hug during 2016 Pigskin Pre-Game.

Blue Raiders fan Melinda Samuels, left, gives football coach Rick Stockstill a hug while attending the MTSU alumni Pigskin Pre-Game event at The Grove in this August 2016 photo. (MTSU file photo by Kimi Conro)