Eagles’ uniforms deserve respect

On Saturday, USC’s football team will play at Boston College. And, to be blunt, on Saturday, USC’s football team will probably beat Boston College.

But regardless of the outcome, something very important will happen Saturday night. The Boston College football team will honor former BC lacrosse player Welles Crowther, who was one of the approximately 3,000 people who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

If you had a chance to see the ESPN feature on Crowther, you know the story. If not, here goes:

Crowther, who graduated from Boston College in 1999 and got a job in equities trading in the South World Trade Center tower, helped approximately a dozen people reach safety before the tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001, with him inside. His body was discovered six months after the tragic events.

Crowther was known for always wearing a red bandana inside his lacrosse helmet at BC or in his pocket when he wasn’t playing, and was wearing it the day he died. This habit earned him the nickname “The Man in the Red Bandana.”

To honor him near the 13-year anniversary of his death, the Boston College football team will wear custom cleats, socks, gloves and helmets with a red paisley pattern on them to represent Crowther’s iconic red bandana. BC’s live eagle mascot, named Welles, will make an appearance at the school’s pre-game fanfest, and the university will host Crowther’s family and celebrate Boston College’s mission of producing “men and women for others.”

For a fleeting moment here at USC, we thought we knew something about heroes. When we heard the initial story about Josh Shaw spraining his ankles by jumping off a balcony in order to save his nephew from drowning, we all lauded his actions and insisted that it was the Trojan way. When we found out that he fabricated the heroic story, we were all crushed, and, unfortunately for us students, it reflected poorly on the entire university.

But Crowther is a real hero, in every sense of the word, and he deserves to be honored for his brave deeds.

I never thought I’d write a column about an alumnus of the school we were about to play (and hopefully demolish) the next day. So far I’ve stuck to USC football — it’s what I know best. But I wanted to share the story of Welles Crowther’s heroism with USC students who might not have heard it before or who might wonder why the maroon and gold Eagles were wearing bright red paisley patterns on their helmets this Saturday.

I’d say that our football fans are generally pleasant and respectful (alumni, at least), but USC students are often quite uninformed and obnoxious. (Yes, clamoring about how many Heisman trophies USC has won while walking past opposing fans on the way to the Coliseum and then leaving after just one quarter is about as obnoxious as it gets.)

Football fans can be so atrocious to each other, and students especially turn to tearing the other team down. I’ll admit I participated in a few anti-Stanford chants last Saturday (But not the “’SC rejects’” one because, if we’re being honest, that’s just a preposterous claim.)

I know that I sound really unspirited right now and people might just crumple up this column, throw it at their TV when BC scores its first touchdown this weekend, and continue to find ways to make fun of the Eagles.

But think back to our first home game, when we held a moment of silence for former Trojan track star and American soldier Louis Zamperini, who passed away this summer. Think of how proud we all are to have alumni like Zamperini and Neil Armstrong and how people look past their anti-USC sentiments to respect them as well.

It’s times like that when sports fans can come together to celebrate something larger than the football game at hand. And the anniversary of Sept. 11 is just the occasion to do that.

If you’re heading to Boston for the game or if you’re watching the game at home, maybe you could dig up a red bandana and don it to honor Crowther and the rest of the Americans who lost their lives on Sept. 11.

I hope that by writing this I stop at least a handful of USC students from turning to their friends this Saturday and ignorantly asking, “Why are they wearing those stupid uniforms?”

Save that question for Oregon.

Aubrey Kragen is a senior majoring in communication. She is also the sports editor of the Daily Trojan. Her column, “Release the Kragen,” runs Fridays.