Some of my favorite moments from ‘We Are Marshall’ : “Knute Rockne, All American,” and “Rudy” are popular references to Notre Dame. The Marshall team that will face off against the Irish has a song called “We Are Marshall” that was created amid sad circumstances rather than those of a great coach or a motivational walk-on.
The aftermath of the aircraft disaster that killed almost all of Herd’s players and coaches in 1970 is the subject of this film. You support the program because of the effort being made to repair it.
I’d be lying if I claimed this wasn’t one of my all-time favorite football movies. Even if this one doesn’t have the loveliest setting, I think I’m a sucker for these feel-good flicks. After all, no one with a rational mind would desire this in any society.
I thought this would be an excellent time to reflect on a few standout scenes from the movie as the Irish and Herd prepare to meet for the first time:
Freshmen allowed to play
The NCAA made it easier for the Herd to restart their program by allowing them to play first simultaneously- and second-year students on the varsity roster. Even if obtaining the waiver wasn’t as hard as the movie makes it seem like it was, this is still an uplifting scene to watch:
‘We Are Marshall’
Bobby Bowden helps coaches learn Veer
The newly hired employees at Marshall learned about Bobby Bowden’s first-class personality many years before millions of other people did. Not only did he assist them in determining the offense they would be running, but the players on his West Virginia team immortalized the event by painting it on the back of their helmets. What a stud he turned up to be:
‘My shoulder’s fine’
The fact that the young Herd is unprepared to compete on equal footing with most of their foes becomes immediately apparent. Even though Nate Ruffin, the team captain and one of the few returning players who weren’t on the aircraft, has a shoulder injury, it is evident that something else is bothering him far more. It has been doing so ever since the disaster.
This is a sequence that ranks right up there with Boobie Miles’ emotional breakdown in “Friday Night Lights” and Gale Sayers’ monologue in “Brian’s Song”:
Pregame speech at cemetery
At the 1971 Herd’s first home game of the season, they will be reminded of the circumstances under which they came into being. Head Coach Jack Lengyel accompanies his squad to the cemetery, where some players from the previous season are laid to rest. Check your pulse if you don’t feel like you’re ready to break through a brick wall by the time this is through.