It was November 14, 1970, and the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team was flying home from a game in Greenville, North Carolina. Their chartered plane, a Southern Airways DC-9, slammed into a hill just short of the airport in Huntington, West Virginia. All 75 people on board died, including 37 players, coaches, staff, and fans. It remains one of the worst sports-related disasters in U.S. history.
But here’s where your brain goes, “Wait, that’s 37 players, so the answer is 37, right?” Hold your horses. That number is technically correct, but it’s the least interesting part of the story. The real kicker is how many players weren’t on that flight, and the crazy luck—or lack thereof—that saved them.
The “What If” Players Who Lived
On that fateful night, a handful of players missed the plane for the most mundane reasons. One was Nate Ruffin, a sophomore defensive back who was grounded by the team doctor due to a nagging injury. Another, Larry Sanders, had a flat tire on his way to the airport—talk about divine intervention disguised as a roadside inconvenience. Then there was Mark Andrews, a freshman who simply overslept and missed the bus to the airport. Classic college kid move, right?
In total, only three players who were supposed to be on the plane survived because they didn’t board. That means the official death toll of 37 players is a number, but the living number of “should’ve-been-on-the-plane” guys is just three. Imagine the guilt and the gratitude they must have felt—a bizarre cocktail of relief and survivor’s remorse. (Note: Two other players were already home sick, but they were never listed on the flight manifest, so we’ll count them as the universe’s bonus survivors.)
