City Of Tuscaloosa To Unveil 'Marshall Four' Statues Next Month

TUSCALOOSA, AL — The City of Tuscaloosa announced Friday it will unveil statues honoring four local athletes who made history before their lives were tragically cut short in one of college football’s darkest moments.

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The unveiling ceremony for the “Marshall Four” statues — commemorating Freddy Wilson, Larry Sanders, Joe Hood and Robert VanHorn — will take place Wednesday, Nov. 5, at 9 a.m. at the Benjamin Barnes YMCA, 3011 Martin Luther King Blvd.

The event is open to the public and light refreshments will be provided.

The four young men were all from West Tuscaloosa and grew up spending time at the original Benjamin Barnes YMCA before leaving home to attend Marshall University. At Marshall, they became some of the first Black athletes from Tuscaloosa to receive football scholarships at a major university.

Their promising futures ended on Nov. 14, 1970, when their plane crashed while returning from a game at East Carolina University, killing all 75 people aboard — players, coaches, staff and supporters of the Marshall football program.

The statues, designed and created by Tuscaloosa artist Caleb O’Connor, will stand as permanent memorials to their lives and legacy.

O’Connor is best known locally for his public sculptures of Minerva at Manderson Landing and heavyweight boxing champion Deontay Wilder at the Visit Tuscaloosa Welcome Center.

The project is part of the city’s Elevate Tuscaloosa initiative and coincides with the new Benjamin Barnes YMCA facility, which opened in December 2024.

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