We Are Marshall

We Are Marshall was a 2006 movie about the Marshall University plane crash that killed the majority of the Marshall University 'Thundering Herd' football team in 1970. The tragedy shook the University and it's community. Marshall University is in in Huntington, West Virginia. On November 14th, 1970, the school chartered a plane to take the Thundering Herd football team, coaches, and fans to North Carolina, for a game against East Carolina University.

Actor Matthew McConaughey played head coach Jack Lengyel in the film. McConaughey is best known for roles in A Time to Kill, Contact, U-571, and most recently Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. It stars Matthew McConaughey as head coach Jack Lengyel, Matthew Fox as assistant coach William “Red” Dawson, David Strathairn as University President Donald Dedmon and Robert Patrick as ill-fated Marshall head coach Rick Tolley.

The story told in “We Are Marshall” sounds a little like the invention of a screenwriter. An airplane carrying a university football team crashes, killing nearly all of the players, most of the coaching staff and several prominent fans. The university and the close-knit surrounding community are devastated but decide to persevere. A new head coach assembles a team of freshman and athletes who have never played football. This motley crew goes on to win its first home game with a record-breaking number of fans in attendance.