The Rutgers University football team will wear special uniforms on Friday night to honor 37 alumni killed in the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.
The Scarlet Knights will travel to Massachusetts to face Boston College on the 25th anniversary of the tragedy in an emotionally charged matchup moved specifically to a Friday night slot.
Rutgers, located in New Brunswick, New Jersey, is the closest Football Bowl Subdivision program to New York City, situated around 36 miles southwest of Manhattan. The school lost 37 former students in the 2001 terror attacks.
To commemorate the victims, the team will wear an all-red uniform featuring special helmets displayed with the number 37 in a United States flag print. The words "never forget" are printed down the side of the pants.
Rutgers unveiled the special uniforms on social media alongside a statement honoring those lost on 9/11.
"As we take the field on the 25th anniversary of 9/11, we honor all of those whose lives were lost on that tragic day, including our 37 alumni. We remember. We honor. We will never forget," Rutgers Football wrote.
Uniform details and tributes
The game pairs Rutgers with a fitting opponent in Boston College, an institution that annually pays tribute to former lacrosse player Welles Crowther.
Crowther, a member of the class of 1999, tragically died after saving as many as 20 lives in the 9/11 attacks. He became identifiable by the red bandana he was wearing during his rescue efforts.
The contest serves as the 13th annual Red Bandanna Game in honor of Crowther. Boston College will again incorporate the iconic red bandana pattern on its helmets and jerseys, with player name plates all reading "For Welles" for the annual tribute game.
Head coach Greg Schiano on educating players
Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano spoke passionately last year about the importance of the anniversary to the university and its athletic program. Schiano was in his first year of his first stint as Rutgers head coach in 2001.
Schiano reflected on the impact of the tragedy on the local community and his personal connection to the losses.
"It's still real important, right? 37 Rutgers alums lost that day," Schiano said. "Personally, a guy who I grew up with just two doors down was lost that day. A lot of us all lost people that are from this area and also what it did in changing the world."
He expressed gratitude to service members and highlighted his role in teaching players about 9/11.
"I have a great gratitude to the people who serve our country and protect us. I will educate the team and I do every year because most of these kids, if not all of them, weren't born yet," Schiano said. "So to them it's just something they read in the history books, but I think being located where we are, I will always tell the story. We stood on the practice fields and you could see the smoke on the horizon."
Schiano recalled the feeling on campus in the immediate aftermath of the attacks as players sought routine amidst crisis.
"We knew we weren't playing a game, but our players just wanted to go out to get their minds onto something else. So it all definitely hits home," Schiano said.
He explained that team trips, such as a previous visit to the memorial site during the Pinstripe Bowl, helped deepen the players' understanding.
"A couple years ago when we were at the Pinstripe Bowl, one of the events that they did was take us down to the site and then we went on a tour. I think now a lot of the guys, having gone through that just really understand it much better. But, again half the team wasn't with us then, so I'll definitely still educate them," Schiano said.
Schiano emphasized that educating student-athletes about real-world events remains a core priority of his coaching philosophy.
"As a team, we try to not only talk about football, but what's going on in their world, what's going on in the world. Because the thing that can't get lost is we're educating young men to hopefully become the kind of grown men that we want in our society. So we take that real seriously. I take that real seriously in dealing with our football team," Schiano said.
