Lincoln embraces homecoming as HBCU game brings the school back to Philly after 16 years

Charles Thompson and his fraternal twin brother, Noble, lived less than 20 minutes away from Lincoln Financial Field growing up in Chester. Charles is an hour and 22 minutes older than Noble, and they played every sport together growing up.

“Every day was about competition,” Noble Thompson said.

They once held a flag inside the stadium before an Eagles game with their youth football program nine years ago. For the first time in their football lives, the Lincoln University senior football captains will be playing at the Linc when the Division II football program faces Virginia Union on Friday (7 p.m., ESPN+). Lincoln, based in Oxford Township, Chester County, is the nation’s oldest degree-granting historically Black college. The football team will return to Philadelphia for the first time in 16 years.

“It’s a huge honor,” said Noble Thompson, a utility player on Lincoln’s offense who plays tight end, fullback, and slot receiver. “[We] got a lot of [our] family members coming up. … Just to have [our] family out here to come see me play [our] second to last game, just a [great] honor.”

» READ MORE: HBCU football returns to the Linc. Meet the four teams competing this weekend.

Added Charles Thompson, who plays linebacker: “Playing at the Linc is like a dream come true. … [Our] family get to see me play in the NFL stadium. It’s awesome.”

That sentiment was shared similarly throughout the Lincoln football team, with a large portion of the roster hailing from Philadelphia and its surrounding areas. For many, the game will represent a homecoming and an opportunity to play in front of family, friends, former teammates, and Lincoln graduates who last saw their university play at Northeast High School in 2010 as part of the Lincoln-Cheyney HBCU football rivalry.

That also extends to its coaches. Khalil Steward, who played his high school ball at Imhotep, went on to play at Delaware Valley University, then started his coaching career at Martin Luther King Jr. High School in Germantown under fellow Lincoln assistant Malik Jones, who coaches receivers on Frank Turner’s staff. Steward’s mom went to Virginia State, whom Lincoln played earlier this season, and his family had long wanted him to play and attend an HBCU.

Now, he’s getting an opportunity to coach on the sideline of the Linc Friday night as “a diehard Eagles fan.”

“It’s going to feel like a great moment. A lot of us always dreamed about this,” said Steward, who also remembers attending the Lincoln-Cheyney games in Philadelphia growing up. “It’s a special moment, especially for the guys to get that experience, be where the professional guys be. … We get to be home and play at the Linc and what’s more special than that? We got a lot of South Jersey kids, some Philly kids that are Eagles fans, so they all [are] hype and excited about it as well.”

Mikal Davis Jr. had no idea when he decided to transfer to Lincoln last offseason that he would get another chance to play at the Linc.

» READ MORE: Former Imhotep QB Mikal Davis Jr. gets a fresh start at Delaware State

The quarterback, who began his college career at Delaware State in 2024, was on the Hornets’ team last year when they faced Norfolk State in the HBCU Battle of the Legends game between old Eagles teammates DeSean Jackson and Michael Vick. Davis was buried on Delaware State’s depth chart, but the junior quarterback said the experience last year “was surreal.”

“Just being able to have that experience that I always dreamed about as a kid. Getting drafted, going to the NFL, and [that game] just happened to be in my hometown with the Philadelphia Eagles,” said Davis, an Imhotep graduate. “I had a Hall of Famer as my coach [DeSean Jackson]. He [had] us in the Linc … I was just taking it all in.”

This time around, though, will be different. Davis began the season as the backup quarterback to Jayden Triplett, the team’s starter. Triplett suffered an injury during Lincoln’s loss to Elizabeth City State on Oct. 10, which forced Davis into action.

The left-handed quarterback, who took the majority of the starting reps during Wednesday’s practice as Triplett works his way back into the lineup, is ready to seize the moment, should he have to take the field Friday night.

“Having an opportunity to play in [the Linc], so [my mentality] is like, ‘Why not? Why not win?’” Davis said. “I feel like it’s just different knowing when you’re going to get in, or having that opportunity to play at the Linc. So, with that being said, you just have to be ready, ready, ready, have that mindset that it’s just another game, but it’s still a big atmosphere, a big stage. A lot of eyes are going to be there.”

» READ MORE: The Linc will host two HBCU football games, including Delaware State-Norfolk State rematch

Friday’s game will be the second opportunity for Lincoln to play at an NFL stadium. Earlier this season, the program traveled to Chicago to play at Soldier Field in the Chicago Football Classic against Mississippi Valley State, a Football Championship Subdivision HBCU school. Turner and his staff are taking the lessons learned from that 35-21 loss into Friday’s game.

Lincoln planned to have a walk-through at the Linc on Thursday, then stay in Philadelphia overnight leading into Friday night’s game.

Turner, in his fourth season as the program’s head coach, has been trying to keep his team focused on the game with the buzz palpable for many players’ families planning to attend. He is looking forward to the “great exposure” the program will gain from the opportunity.

“It’s one of those things where the stage shouldn’t be too big for us. It’s just more so keeping these guys focused,” Turner said. “The distractions is a little bit more on this end now, so it’s just keeping them grounded.”