| Teamname: | Grinnell Pioneers football |
| Firstyear: | 1889 |
| Headcoach: | Brent Barnes |
| Stadium: | Rosenbloom Field |
| Conference: | Midwest Conference |
| Pastaffiliations: | Missouri Valley Conference |
| Websitename: | pioneers.grinnell.edu |
| Websiteurl: | https://pioneers.grinnell.edu/sports/football |
The Grinnell Pioneers football team represents Grinnell College in collegiate-level football. The team competes in the NCAA Division III as a member of the Midwest Conference.[1]
On a blustery November afternoon in 1889, Grinnell College beat the University of Iowa 24 - 0 in the first intercollegiate football game west of the Mississippi River.[2] The team's first head coach was Theron Lyman. It was a member of the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association from 1918 to 1927 and its successor the Missouri Valley Conference from 1928 to 1939.
After starting 2019 at 0 - 3 and with only 28 of 39 healthy players, the team withdrew from competitive play and forfeited its remaining seven games of the season on October 1 in order to protect the health and safety of its student-athletes.[3] The players had voted overwhelmingly to end the season as a protest over their perceived lack of support by the administration, which the team believed caused them to be undermanned over the past four seasons.[4]