People of
the Game.
Seventeen cards. Seventeen people every kid in this league should know before they know a single pro's stats. Some created the game. Some perfected it. Some opened doors so more kids could walk through them. And some showed the world what a lacrosse player is made of when it matters most. Flip any card to read the story.
Card write-ups by Chip and Chirp, The Drew League Sideline Report. Companion to The Creator’s Game, our page on the history of lacrosse.
Why a card set?
Because that is how the two of us learned our heroes. You held the card, you read the back, you argued about it at recess. So consider this the league’s official set. No foil parallels, no resale value, and every single one is a rookie card of somebody worth knowing. Start anywhere, but if you only read one row, read the first one. That is where the game comes from.
Keepers of the Creator's Game
Row OneThe Haudenosaunee were given this game roughly a thousand years ago and never stopped playing it. These are the people who carried it, protected it, and still set the standard.
The Legends
Row TwoThe players your coaches' coaches argued about. If lacrosse had a Mount Rushmore, the carving starts here.
The Game Growers
Row ThreeThe game only matters if it keeps reaching new kids. These four made growing it their life's work, on and off the field.
The Women's Game
Row FourThe fastest growing side of the sport, and in some ways the closest to the original game. Every girl in this league gets a row of her own heroes.
Courage
Row FiveThe last row is the most important one. These two are in the set for what they did when the game was over.
What the whole set says.
Lay all seventeen cards on the table and squint. A Faithkeeper and a football legend on the same college roster. A stickmaker whose work took a year and a shooter whose shot took half a second. Brothers and brothers and brothers. A man with a red bandana. What the set says is simple: this game has always been bigger than the scoreboard. It was given as medicine, and the people on these cards, every one of them, used it to make somebody else’s life bigger. That is the assignment, Drew League. Same one it has been for a thousand years.
- The Creator's Game · The Drew League Our full page on the history of lacrosse, from the Haudenosaunee gift to the 2028 Olympics. Read it first.
- The Tewaaraton FoundationCollege lacrosse's highest honor, named for the Mohawk word for the game and endorsed by the Mohawk Nation Council of Elders.
- Oren Lyons · USA Lacrosse Hall of FameThe Hall of Fame profile of card HS-01.
- Welles Crowther · The Man in the Red BandanaThe full story behind card HS-16. Read it, then go hug your kids.
- The Legacy of Jimmy Regan · Lead the Way FundCard HS-17, told by the foundation that carries his name.
Spot an error on a card, or someone we should add to Series 2? Tell us: matt@the-drew.com. Chirp keeps the checklist.