Casual sports fans might not see a local connection between a Super Bowl winning quarterback, two-time World Series champion manager and Triple Crown slugging major leaguer. But all have ties to Middlesex County.
Sports enthusiasts can learn about them and other athletic feats that have a county legacy by visiting a museum only a short distance from Middlesex Borough.
The historic Cornelius Low House Museum is hosting an exhibit titled: “Hometown Pride: The Power of Sports in Middlesex County.” The Low House is located on River Road in Piscataway, a short distance away from Rutgers University’s SHI Stadium.
“Nothing connects us like sports,” reads a graphic posted at the exhibit. “We join neighbors to watch our kids play in the park, We join friends for Wednesday night rec league. We join our communities to cheer at the high school gym. We join people across the country to watch the Super Bowl and millions around the world watch the Olympics.”
“Even if we don’t consider ourselves a fan or an athlete, we can’t deny the power of sports,” it continues. “For participants, sports foster discipline and good health. For spectators and supporters, they build social connections and stir local pride.”
The quarterback mentioned earlier – Joe Theismann – has his South River High School football Jersey hanging in the exhibit. It also shows memorabilia commemorating Theismann’s Super Bowl XVII victory in January 1983 while leading the Washington Redskins over the Miami Dolphins.
Former Sayreville resident Jay Thomas Kelly – more commonly known as Tom Kelly – is recognized with a Minnesota Twins jersey and a bat he used in the minor leagues. Kelly played for the Twins briefly in 1975 and managed them to World Series titles in 1987 and 1991.
The exhibit also takes a lenghty step back in time, honoring Joe “Ducky” Medwick’s National League Triple Crown year in 1937 for the St. Louis Cardinals’ “Gashouse Gang.” Medwick, who grew up in Carteret, was also the National League MVP that year and later inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The exhibit is a treasure trove for Rutgers University sports fans. It notes that the first collegiate football game ever played was in 1869 between RU and Garden State opponent Princeton University.
Rutgers’ 1975-76 men’s basketball team that went 26-0 in the regular season and made it to the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four gets ample space at the exhibit. There’s plenty of other Scarlet Knights relics including the football that Jeremy Ito kicked through the uprights to clinch the memorable home gridiron win over #3 ranked Louisville in November 2006.
The exhibit even has something for the poolroom hustlers among us. Perth Amboy native Steve Mizerak’s dominance over the billiards world in the 1970s is noted.
Plenty of Middlesex County high school sports mementos are displayed. Middlesex High, whose teams always have a supportive fan base, get their due in that part of the exhibit.
It includes memorabilia celebrating several Blue Jays teams including the 1971 Mountain Valley Conference champion wrestling team, 1989 conference winning girls’ cross country squad and 1981 Central Jersey Group 1 sectional winning football team.
Russell Collins, an MHS student who won three track medals in 2003 Special Olympics competiton, has his own display case in the exhibit.
The Cornelius Low House serves as the Middlesex County Museum. The history of sports exhibit runs through the end of 2025. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. It is closed on Monday and Tuesday. Admission is free.
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