Boston College football playing annual “Red Bandanna Game” honoring 9/11 hero Welles Crowther
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CBS News Boston Live
CHESTNUT HILL – Boston College football is playing its annual “Red Bandanna Game” against No. 3 Florida State Saturday, honoring 9/11 hero Welles Crowther.
The tribute has taken place every year around Sept. 11 since 2014 in the memory of former BC lacrosse player Welles Crowther, who died while rescuing others in the North Tower of the World Trade Center. As many as a dozen survivors credited him with saving them, identifying him by the red bandanna he was known to carry.
Former President Barack Obama speaks at the dedication of the national September 11th Memorial Museum in New York, on May 15, 2014. An image of 911 hero Welles Crowther is shown on a screen. JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images
BC coach Jeff Hafley said the team spends a week during the offseason talking about Crowther and what the game means to the program so that when they put on the bandanna-trimmed uniforms it carries the proper weight.
Head coach Jeff Hafley of the Boston College Eagles looks on during the first half of the game between the Florida State Seminoles and the Boston College Eagles at Alumni Stadium on September 16, 2023 in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Maddie Meyer / Getty Images
“They understand the importance of the Red Bandanna Game,” Hafley said. “Reminds them of what happened on 9/11, and obviously we teach them about Welles and others and why we wear those jerseys. You know, it’s not just to put on a new look. It’s way bigger than that.”
BC beat No. 9 Southern California in the first Red Bandanna Game in 2014. Overall, the Eagles are 4-5 in the tribute game.
The Seminoles understand its importance, too.
“I talked to our team a little bit about that … just out of respect for Welles, and just the family, and all that he embodied,” Florida State coach Mike Norvell said. “So this will be an emotional game. I’m sure it will be a great atmosphere.”
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