EASTON, Pa. – Maroon Club Hall of Famer Frank M. Downing '51 passed away on Oct. 15 2019 at the age of 92. Downing, who played quarterback on the 1947, 1948 and 1949 Lafayette football teams, was a three-year starter who helped lead the team to a 6-3 record in 1947 and a 7-2 mark in 1948.
 
The 1948 football team claimed wins over Fordham, Bucknell, George Washington, Washington and Jefferson, Muhlenberg, Ohio Wesleyan and Lehigh and losses only to No. 6 Army and Rutgers. The team averaged 260.2 rushing yards per game, among the leaders in the East. More notably, the team was invited to the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. The College rejected the invitation, however, after the Sun Bowl committee's decision to exclude David Showell '51 from the game because of his race. That 1948 team is being inducted into the Maroon Club Hall of Fame on Nov. 22.
 
Downing's tenure at quarterback coincided with three instances in which he and the Leopards "Beat the Lehighs," a fact that brought him much joy reminiscing at college functions after his graduation.
 
Under his guidance, the Leopard offense scored 237 points in 1947, the most of any college football team in Pennsylvania. That same season, the passing attack was ranked eighth in the nation. Downing became a member of the coaching staff in 1950, taking a position as backfield coach of the freshman football team. Downing was involved with coaching football for 25 years following graduation from Lafayette.
 
A funeral mass will be celebrated in his honor at the St. Michaels Mission Church in Saint Michaels, Md. on Nov. 13 at 10:30 a.m. A reception will follow at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.