All of the Mountaineer football players were in elementary school when the terrorists attacked the United States on Sept. 11, 2001 but they remember where they were and what they were doing when the hijacked planes slammed into the Twin Towers in New York City.
“I was in the fifth grade,” Mountaineer junior offensive lineman Pat Eger told MetroNews as he and his teammates visited the 9/11 Memorial in lower Manhattan Thursday evening. “I was at school when it happened and when I got home my mom explained it to me.”
Eger took in the gravity of the situation as he looked at one of the two reflective pools and many of the names of the victims written on the panels surrounding the pools.
“It’s awesome to come here and pay tribute to all of the people who lost their lives here,” he said. “It’s amazing to see all of the work that’s been done to honor those who died here.”
Some of the current Mountaineers and staff members walked over to the second pool to see the name of former WVU quarterback Chris Gray who died after coming to work that fateful morning.
WVU assistant coach Robert Gillespie said it was important for the Mountaineers to visit the memorial. He says what happened on 9/11 changed the world.
“This is one of the highlights of this bowl game. We definitely had to take advantage of it,” he said.
Gillespie was a senior at the University of Florida when the attacks happened.
“I really didn’t understand that day what it all meant but later it changed my life. It changed football and changed everything about this country,” he said.
The Mountaineers spent about a half hour at the memorial following their Thursday practice.
The 9/11 Memorial itself remains under construction. There have been about seven acres finished with about eight acres more to do.