A story about the family of Stuart Cottrell, a Marshall fooball player and Sig Ep who was killed in the 1970 plane crash that wiped out the entire team.
Stuart Cottrell, a 1969 graduate of Eustis High School, was an all-state quarterback for the Panthers. He probably had never heard of Marshall University until he was offered a scholarship to play football at the southern West Virginia school. After playing quarterback for the Thundering Herd freshman team, Stuart began playing defensive back during his sophomore year. Kevin said to the best of his recollection, Stuart had an interception in a losing effort in his last game.
The crash of a chartered Southern Airways DC-9 jet returning from a game at Eastern Carolina University in Greenville took the lives of most of the Marshall University football team and coaching staff, as well as other university officials and boosters.
Kevin Cottrell, his brother and sisters were invited to the premiere of the movie “We Are … Marshall,” which chronicles the successful effort to rebuild the Thundering Herd football team after the plane crash. The movie, starring Matthew McConaughey and Matthew Fox, opens today in theaters nationwide.
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While they were there, Kevin said, he and his siblings “tracked down some of Stuart’s fraternity brothers” from Sigma Phi Epsilon who pledged at the same time as Stuart. They also met Scott Howard, the brother of Tom Howard, who was not only a fraternity brother of Stuart’s, but also a teammate who died with Stuart in November 1970.
I have not seen the movie yet, but if the trailers are any indication it will be very inspirational and there probably will be crying and cheering in the theaters.
Eustis siblings travel to W.Va. to honor brother who died in 1970 plane crash
