Rutgers Football to honor lives lost on 9/11 against Boston College

Rutgers Football will honor all of the lives lost in the attacks on September 11th, 2001, in New York City, for its upcoming game against Boston College, played on the 25th anniversary. The program released its uniforms for the matchup, featuring scarlet jerseys and pants with “NEVER FORGET” written down the side of the leg. It also features helmets with the number 37, honoring the 37 Rutgers alumni who tragically died on that day. For a limited time, new members get their first year of exclusive Scarlet Knights coverage for just $30 – that’s 75% off. Don’t miss the sale of the season. Rutgers Football will debut these new look uniforms for the 25th anniversary of 9/11 versus Boston College on Friday.The No. 37 on helmet will honor the 37 Rutgers alumni lost on that day.#NeverForget pic.twitter.com/QKRaN2dUCY— Rutgers Scarlet Knights | The Knight Report (@RutgersOn3) September 7, 2026 Rutgers’ honoring This marks the second time the Scarlet Knights will don special uniforms to honor the victims of the attacks, previously doing so in 2021 against Syracuse, a game played on the 20th anniversary. “It’s still real important, right? 37 Rutgers alums lost that day,” head coach Greg Schiano said last year in a weekly press conference. “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. “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. 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. We knew we weren’t playing a game, but our players just wanted to go out to get their minds on something else. So it all definitely hits home.” The team had a chance to learn much more about it a few years ago. “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,” Schiano added. “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. 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.” The Rutgers alumni lost on that day include the following: Paul A. Acquaviva RC’94 Evan J. Baron NCAS’81 David O. Campbell RC’72, GSM’74 Alexander H. Chiang GSNB’82 John R. Cruz RC’93 Brian T. Cummins GSN’91 Gavin F. Cushny UCN’85 Michael A. Davidson LC’97 Jayceryll M. de Chavez LC’99 Michael A. Diaz-Piedra III NCAS’74 Patrick J. Driscoll GSNB’75 Judy Santillan Fernandez UCNB’97 Stephen J. Fiorelli ENG’80 Colleen L. Fraser LC’74 Jeffrey B. Gardner CC’87 Alayne Friedenreich Gentul RC’78 Barry H. Glick NCAS’63 Richard J. Guadagno CC’84 Charles H. Karczewski RC’89 Brendan Mark Lang LC’89 Ming-Hao Liu GSNB’89 James A. Martello LC’83 Brian E. Martineau NCAS’88 Michael J. McCabe UCNB’83 Virginia A. Ormiston ENG’81 Dominique L. Pandolfo RC’96 Jon A. Perconti LC’93 Donald A. Peterson GSM’67 Patrick J. Quigley RC’82 Tom B. Reinig GSM’78 Richard D. Rosenthal GSM’75 Maria Theresa Santillan NCAS’96 Scott M. Schertzer LC’97, SMLR’97 Neil G. Shastri RC’98, RBS’98 Michael C. Sorresse NCAS’89 Kristine Marie Swearson UCNB’96 Gregory K. Wachtler RC’98 Boston College’s honoring The upcoming matchup is also a special one for the Eagles. It will be their Red Bandana game, honoring one of their own who was lost on that day. Each year, Boston College commemorates the life of Welles Crowther, a former Eagles lacrosse player, in the Red Bandanna Game. Following his graduation, he moved to New York City to become an equities trader for Sandler O’Neill and Partners. A volunteer firefighter since he was 16 years old, Crowther worked in the South Tower of the World Trade Center. He saved as many as 18 lives on the tragic day of the attacks in the city and across the nation. He lost his life while saving many others, and was known as “the man in the red bandanna” by witnesses who both saw his heroic actions and were assisted by him. That red bandanna was given to Crowther by his father at the age of six, and he wore it under every sports uniform. He wore that bandanna over his mouth and nose to protect himself from the smoke in the burning building. Since his passing, Boston College has honored Crowther’s memory by hosting the annual Red Bandanna Game since 2014. That first game was an emotional upset victory over then-No. 9 USC, where Crowther’s parents Alison and Jefferson were given the game ball from head coach Steve Addazio. Each year, the Eagles don special uniforms designed much like that red bandanna Crowther wore, with “For Welles” on the nameplate of every jersey. The program announced their uniforms for the game. The teams will face off on the 25th anniversary of a tragic day for both sides, with each program appropriately honoring the day’s significance.