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Employees See Shutout at Kickoff Celebration

Duke Football moves to 2-0 in front of nearly 34,000 at home

For the first time since 2010, a Duke football home opener hit a maximum capacity crowd of 33,941 – with some help from Duke faculty, staff and their families.

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Employees picked up about 15,000 tickets to help fill Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium for the Blue Devils’ Sept. 12 game against North Carolina Central University as part of the annual Employee Kickoff Celebration. After a pre-game party featuring food, face painting and family games, fans cheered on Duke’s 55-0 win, the second straight season the Blue Devils scored more than 50 points in their first game in front of a home crowd.

Duke head coach David Cutcliffe said he could tell from the start it was going to be a special night. 

“As you come out running in the tunnel you almost wanted to stop and look around,” he said. “I know that sounds crazy and I knew I’d get run over if I stopped dead in my tracks. It was emotional.”

Perhaps no more so than for Keith Lawrence, a 20-year Duke staff member in the Office of News and Communications who earned this year’s title of “honorary employee captain” for the game. He was nominated by dozens of his colleagues across the university.

Leading up to the game, Lawrence participated in a press luncheon, recorded a video with Cutcliffe and participated in pregame activities like running onto the field with the football team and joining Duke’s captains for a coin toss to determine which team received the ball first. 

“It was a fabulous experience,” Lawrence said. “The whole week was terrific. Everybody was enthusiastic and I was glad I was able to share it with so many family and friends.”

Duke employees who enjoyed the Employee Kickoff, which was sponsored by Duke Human Resources and Athletics, can still cheer on the Blue Devils with discounted season tickets. Faculty and staff can purchase tickets to remaining five homes games for $110 per ticket, which allows entry into each remaining home game. 

The Blue Devils will host three more home games over the next three weeks, with their next matchup against 23rd-ranked Northwestern University Sept. 19 at 12:30 p.m. Single game tickets can be purchased online. To buy discounted season tickets, employees can call (919) 681-2583 or visit the Duke Athletics Ticket Office in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

For more information about employee-priced tickets – the most cost-friendly in the Atlantic Coast Conference - see this Duke Today story.