Based on true events, "We Are Marshall"
tells the inspiring story of how a small town in West
Virginia, steeped in the rich tradition of college football,
struggled to cope with a devastating loss and restore their
community after one of the worst disasters in the history of
American sports.
On the evening of Saturday, November 14, 1970, a chartered
jet carrying Marshall University's football team, coaches
and fans, was on its way home from a hard-fought game in
North Carolina. Less than a minute before its scheduled
landing at Tri-State Airport, the plane crashed in the
Appalachian Mountains, killing everyone aboard: 37 players,
eight coaches and university staff, the flight crew, and 25
prominent Huntington citizens who had made the trip as they
always did to cheer their "Thundering Herd."
In the aftermath of this stunning tragedy, university
president Dedmon (DAVID STRATHAIRN) prepared to suspend the
school's football program for the season--perhaps
indefinitely. Assistant coach Red Dawson (MATTHEW FOX), who
narrowly missed the ill-fated flight, couldn't face going
back onto the field.
But in Huntington, Marshall football has always been more
than a sport: it's a way of life. And this town would rally
to save it. After some initial setbacks, they found hope and
strength in the leadership of outsider Jack Lengyel (MATTHEW
McCONAUGHEY), a young coach determined to rebuild Marshall's
football program and, in the process, help to heal the
community.
Less than a year later, on September 18, 1971, Marshall
University's brand new Thundering Herd was poised to stage
one of the greatest comebacks in collegiate sports. A raw,
youthful and inexperienced squad, patched together under the
guidance of Lengyel and Dawson, they would defy overwhelming
odds just to march onto the gridiron for the school's first
game since the accident.
That season, it didn't matter whether Marshall won or lost.
It didn't even matter how they played the game. All that
mattered was that they played.
©
2006 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights
Reserved.
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