What The Egg Bowl Means To Mississippi
The rivalry starts early for many players. Mississippi high school football may be under the radar nationally, but go to any playoff game this week across the state. No matter how nice the stadium is, it will be packed, and the atmosphere like no other.
Noxubee County and Starkville High have a traditional rivalry, and back in 2015, these two schools were home to two of the biggest names in Egg Bowl history: Jeffrey Simmons and AJ Brown. They were already rivals before matching up in the Egg Bowl.
Another instance of this familiarity can be found at Bassfield High, now Jeff Davis County. The Yellowjacket program is perhaps the most dominant in the state, and they had three standouts during their 2013 season: AJ and CJ, Moore, and Jamal Peters.
The Moore twins signed with Ole Miss in 2014, and Peters landed with MSU just a year later. Once high school teammates are now sworn enemies. Jeff Davis High School played Hazelhurst the Friday after the 2017 Egg Bowl, and all three were on the sideline that next night in South Mississippi.
Stories like these are what make the Egg Bowl unique and intense. Most of these athletes played against each other, or with each other in high school, and knowing your opponent makes you that much hungrier to get a win.
Fans often take the rivalry more personally than the players, and that is no exception in this one. Mississippi residents are proud people, and since birth, kids are told they either love MSU and hate Ole Miss or love Ole Miss and hate MSU. It is ingrained into their DNA as the disdain for each school is passed on through generations.
In 1927, the Egg Bowl trophy was introduced. The trophy was made after the Rebels took down MSU in 1926 to end a 13-year losing streak.
As Rebel fans rushed the field in Starkville to take down the goalpost, they were met with heavy resistance. MSU fans armed themselves with wooden chairs, and a brawl commenced. Consequently, the infamous Egg Bowl trophy was created in hopes of avoiding a potential repeat.
As a Mississippi native, I have witnessed this rivalry and understand how important winning this game is. If your team loses, you must hear about it from classmates, coworkers, and friends 365 days a year.
This rivalry never gets the national love it deserves, and perhaps it should be that way because Mississippi is often overlooked. The Egg Bowl has sometimes been looked down upon “for going too far,” and maybe it has. However, a rivalry is supposed to be highly contested, with emotions running high.
If a rivalry's place in the national spotlight is based on having two traditional powers, then the Egg Bowl is way down the list. But if it is based on distance, hatred, and familiarity, it rises to the top.
On Thanksgiving Day, Southern hospitality is non-existent for a few hours in Mississippi as it is “Them against Us.” Both these fan bases and players want to win every game, but nothing quite hits home like the Egg Bowl.
