BC to Honor Welles Crowther at Football’s “Service Day” Game Friday Night

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – When the Boston College football team enters Alumni Stadium on Friday night against ACC rival Florida State, the Eagles will be wearing accessories trimmed in a red bandanna design in honor of Welles Crowther, a former BC lacrosse player who is credited with saving at least a dozen people in the south tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Crowther wore his signature red bandana that day and he lost his own life when he hurried to save others before the tower fell. He has been recognized as "The Man in the Red Bandana" and family, friends and teammates hold the annual "Welles Remy Crowther 5K Red Bandana Run" on BC's campus in the fall to support a charity formed in his name.

In 2011, Boston College graduate Drew Gallagher produced "Man in the Red Bandanna" for ESPN, about his classmate Welles Crowther. In 2016, ESPN national correspondent Tom Rinaldi wrote "The Red Bandanna" about Crowther's choice to save lives in his last hour.

The Crowther family will be in attendance for the game, which will be broadcast on ESPN. The game is known as Service Day and it is dedicated to celebrating individuals from the BC community who represent the university's mission of "Men and Women for Others."

The American Heroes Channel (AHC) is the Service Day sponsor. AHC partnered with the Welles Remy Crowther Charitable Trust and People Magazine to present the "Red Bandana Hero Award." This year's recipient is Jay Redman, a retired Navy Seal Lieutenant who founded the Combat Wounded Coalition, a non-profit based in Virginia Beach, Va., that is dedicated to inspiring combat-wounded veterans to overcome adversity through four pillars of support: Pride, Power, Purpose and Peace.

The Boston College athletics department will give away thousands of red bandannas at every gate of Alumni Stadium on Friday night prior to the start of the game. Fans should arrive early as Frogg-X jumpers will sky dive into Alumni Stadium during the national anthem. There will also be pyrotechnics pregame and during the game.

Pete Frates, a former BC baseball player (2004-07), and his family will be in attendance as well. Frates was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in March 2012 at the age of 27 and was the catalyst behind the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge that raised over $220 million. Frates will be recognized during the game for his recent Baseball Hall of Fame exhibit as well as the new book written about his life, The Ice Bucket Challenge: Pete Frates and the Fight against ALS.

In addition, BC will celebrate former standout defensive tackle Mike Ruth (1982-85), who will be inducted into the College Hall of Fame as a member of the 2017 Hall of Fame class.

During the game, the 2007 football team will also be recognized, as well as fromer Eagles Super Bowl Champions DuJuan Daniels, Mark Herzlich and Mathias Kiwanuka.

Throughout the stadium, there were will be a hurricane relief collection for Catholic Charities and Jesuit Charities in areas impacted by hurricanes.

BC to Honor Welles Crowther at Football’s “Service Day” Game Friday Night

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