Tuscaloosa Unveils Statues of Native Sons Killed in 1970 Marshall Football Plane Crash

Almost 55 years after one of the most devastating tragedies in college sports history, hundreds gathered in West Tuscaloosa for the unveiling of statues honoring four native sons who died that day.

As the Thread first reported last summer, the tragedy was the 1970 crash of a plane carrying the Marshall University football team, coaches, staff members, and boosters, which killed all 75 souls aboard.

Four of those football players were from Tuscaloosa  -  Joe Hood, Larry Sanders, Robert Van Horn and Freddie Wilson. They were star players for Druid High School who Marshall had recruited in a time before most SEC schools were integrated.

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Statues of the "Marshall Four" were unveiled outside the Benjamin Barnes YMCA in West Tuscaloosa on Wednesday morning, sculpted by Caleb O’Connor—the same artist who shaped local boxing legend Deontay Wilder's statue on the Tuscaloosa Riverwalk.

"Today in Tuscaloosa, we are Marshall, and we stand with Huntington, West Virginia, in a pledge to never forget the 75 players, coaches, administrators and supporters who perished on November 14th, 1970," Mayor Walt Maddox said. "That night, fate was unmerciful, and with it, the grief and despair were unbearable. Yet Marshall rose. It is that resilience and fortitude, forged through tragedy, and hope that we are going to recognize today and immortalize the lives of Tuscaloosa natives Joe, Larry, Robert, and Freddie."

Maddox said that getting to this point was a collaborative effort spurred by former City Council President Harrison Taylor, the City's Arts & Entertainment Director Kay Day, and Lucianne Kautz Call from Marshall.

In a stirring speech, Call said she was a cheerleader in 1970 and knew almost everyone aboard the plane who died, including the Marshall Four. Her father, Charlie Kautz, was the university's athletic director and was killed in the same crash.

Call and her husband came to Tuscaloosa one summer to visit Cedar Oak Memorial Park on Highway 69 South, where the four football players were laid to rest.

"I was saddened to see that the marker was in need of repair, and I then met with a representative of the cemetery and followed that up by meeting Kay Day at City Hall," Call said. "We immediately bonded and became friends. Of course, she too fell in love with the Marshall story."

A new marker was placed in the cemetery, but when the city began discussing the installation of public art in front of its new $12 million Benjamin Barnes YMCA in West Tuscaloosa, Day proposed commissioning a statue of the Marshall Four.

"Lucianne, thank you for lighting the fire that started us on this path," Day said. "To the families and friends of Freddie Wilson, Larry Sanders, Joe Hood and Robert Van Horn, this memorial is for you, to celebrate your loved ones and ensure we will never forget the hope, dreams and impact they brought to you, your families and this community."

Day said the process of finally memorializing these four young men will be the subject of an ESPN documentary from 16-time Emmy Award-winning director and producer Martin Khodabakhshian.

Day also acknowledged a local myth that Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant had advocated on behalf of the Marshall Four several years before the University of Alabama allowed its first Black players on the football field.

"It's said that Coach Bryant contacted Marshall University and said these four athletes deserve scholarships and should be recruited by Marshall," Day said. "He may have, but the truth for certain is that [Freshmen] Coach [Kenneth] O'Rourke recruited these four outstanding athletes. Coach O'Rourke was responsible for recruiting the first Black athletes from Tuscaloosa to be recruited and gain scholarships to a predominantly white college. That's the truth, and that's a game changer."

The larger-than-life statues are on display now outside the Benjamin Barnes YMCA at 3011 Martin Luther King Boulevard next to the McDonald Hughes Activity Center. Mayor Maddox said he hopes as hundreds of children make use of the Y every day, the statues will do more than give long overdue acknowledgement to part of Tuscaloosa's history, but also inspire the youth who will shape its future.

For more coverage of news in West Alabama, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.