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| Oliver's life was celebrated by fans and members of the Young Thundering Herd when Marshall hosted North Carolina State at Edwards Stadium in an early-season game in 2018. (Photo courtesy of speaktherights.com) |
Reggie Oliver forged a wonderful legacy as the legendary quarterback who led Marshall University's Thundering Herd in the years following the 1970 plane crash that killed most of the school's varsity football team.
Oliver finished his college career in 1973 with
a hefty share of the school's passing records. In 1984, he was inducted into
the Marshall Sports Hall of Fame.
But now, that legacy has reached new heights.
Oliver, the school’s first black quarterback, was honored during Marshall's Homecoming celebration during the weekend of October 23. In ceremonies held on Friday of homecoming, the MU icon had a street named after him. The city-block-length street that used to be known as Huntington Avenue, has a new name now -- Reggie Oliver Square.
The street runs right next
to what used to be Fairfield Stadium, the home field for Marshall football for 63 years. Fairfield was demolished in 2004. Since 1991, MU has played
its home games at Edwards Stadium, which is located adjacent to campus.
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| Oliver looks downfield for a receiver in a 1971 game against Bowling Green which the Herd won in a 12-10 upset. |
Oliver, who
served as an assistant coach at Marshall, Bowling Green and Central State
(Ohio), passed away two years ago in Huntsville, Alabama. He died from
complications of a head injury suffered in a fall.
It did not take long for Oliver to become part of MU’s football folklore. In the team’s first home game after the crash, Oliver, a sophomore, orchestrated a game-winning drive for the ages. He connected with Terry Gardner on a 13-yard screen pass on the final play of the game as the Herd beat Xavier (Ohio) 15-13 in a heart-stopping upset on Sept. 25, 1971.
“Our primary focus is to preserve Reggie’s legacy,”
said Paul Jackson, president of the Reggie Oliver Endowment Scholarship
Foundation, which has been operational since July. “There’s no question
about his contributions to Marshall’s football program and his work (as a
consultant) with the movie (“We Are Marshall”).”
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| Oliver got a standing ovation for his keynote speech at the Spring Fountain ceremony at MU in 2018. |
At the time of the Marshall tragedy,
Oliver was a freshman. As a result, he was not on the plane because NCAA rules
prevented freshmen from playing varsity football and basketball.
The street unveiling ceremony provided some blissful memories for Oliver's mother Mattie Lou Underwood, who was in attendance along with several representatives of the family. Due to the
city's restrictions on public gatherings because of COVID-19, only 25 people were allowed to attend.
Speakers for the ceremony included Steve Williams, Huntington
mayor; Mike Hamrick, Marshall athletics director; Rev. James Hughes (Oliver’s
uncle); and Mickey Jackson, a foundation representative who was a Herd assistant
coach during Oliver’s playing days at MU.
The street sign unveiling is just one
aspect of the foundation's plans to further enhance Oliver's legacy. A $25,000
scholarship in Oliver’s name will be awarded for the 2020-21 school year to a
Marshall football player who is not on a full-ride scholarship.
One of the short-term goals for the organization is to grow
the scholarship fund to $100,000.
To learn more about the foundation, contact
Paul Jackson at jackson_paul55@yahoo.com
or call (614) 264-2222.
Note: Yours truly has a lot of familiarity with Fairfield Stadium from back in the day. During my senior year at Marshall, I lived in an upstairs apartment on Charleston Ave., which was located right across the street from the stadium. I could watch the Herd play from my bedroom window.
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