Eagles Speak About Red Bandana Week On Monday
CHESTNUT HILL - On the 22nd anniversary of the September 11th attacks Monday, head coach Jeff Hafley, Donovan Ezeiruaku and Drew Kendall spoke about what it means, how the team goes about honoring Welles Crowther internally and just how much energy the team can draw from the crowd during this particular week.
The No. 3 team in the country Florida State visits after putting up 66 points, but pulling off a ridiculous upset as 25-point underdogs wouldn't even be the most significant part of the day.
It would be the fact that they did it while honoring The Man In The Red Bandana.
HAFLEY OPENING STATEMENT
"Before you guys ask questions, just remembering today, 9/11. Obviously, we're playing the Red Bandana Game It's nice that we're playing it in a week that it is 9/11 to honor all of those...obviously, our thoughts and prayers are with those who have been affected. Lost lives, the heroes. It's appreciated, not forgotten. It will be an honor to wear those jerseys again this week.
ON IF THE TEAM WAS DOING ANYTHING IN PARTICULAR ON MONDAY FOR THE ANNIVERSARY
"No. What we do is, we sped in the offseason - we spend a whole week. We teach our players...we talk to our players about 9/11, about Welles, about the Red Bandana Game. We show them the video. We have a workout dedicated to it, so we can spend the proper amount of time on it. Rather than game week when it's so rushed with the game plan and everything is kind of minute-by-minute. We can do it right, so when we get to this point, they understand the importance of the Red Bandana Game. It reminds them of what happened on 9/11. Obviously, we teach them about Welles and others and why we wear those jerseys. It's not just to put on a new look. It's way bigger than that and to do it justice, we do that in the offseason/"
EZEIRUAKU ON THE ENERGY DURING RED BANDANA GAME DAY
"It's very important to us and this program and the school, obviously, because of Welles. I would say that energy does...we do bring that, because like Welles did, he didn't do it for himself. He helped others around him. We take that mentality we take that mindset. Do it for your brother next to you. If you don't want to do it, do it for that guy. Play for somebody else that's other than yourself and that energy does permeate. That's extremely important to get that message across and it has already gotten across to the team this week, especially to the young guys who this is their first Red Bandana Game. It's a team effort. Everybody has to play together and work with everyone and that's how we'll be successful."
EZEIRUAKU ON THE TEAM HONORING WELLES IN THE OFFSEASON
"We obviously do talk about it. We were actually just talking about it downstairs in the locker room. Red Bandana is very important to us. We do things during the offseason during winter workouts and summer workouts. We have our Red Bandana workouts. It's essentially being there for your brother in a time where he's going through it in a workout. So, we talk about it often."
KENDALL ON THE RED BANDANA WEEK
"Yeah, it's a really important week for this school, this program. Really important for me. It's a great opportunity ahead, something to play for bigger than us. It's a great challenge ahead of us and I can't wait for it."
KENDALL ON TRYING TO MAKE THIS 'JUST ANOTHER GAME" DESPITE RED BANDANA ATMOSPHERE & NATIONAL TV AUDIENCE
"It's hard to say that it doesn't (change mindset), but it can't. So, like...it changes your mindset, because 1. we have stuff to fix, so that changes our mindset because we have stuff to work toards. But, national TV, this is going to be great, it should be a great environment, but you've got to keep it the same. You can't get too lost in the moment and you've got to keep it the same and play with a little more energy."