The Pirates are the football team of Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia. They compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of the NCAA and play in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).
📜 Hampton Pirates Football History
Hampton fielded its first football team in 1902. The team competed independently until 1912, when Hampton joined the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association. This membership lasted more than 80 years, and the Pirates won 14 conference titles during that period.
From 1995 to 2017, Hampton played in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Association (MEAC). This was followed by an independent season and then a few years in the Big South Conference, until the team moved to the CAA in 2022.
In 2022, Hampton defensive back Byron Perkins came out as gay, becoming the first football player to do so at any HBCU.
Hampton claims 7 black college national championships.
