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To say that Dr. Herb and Josephine Proctor (both perished in the November 20, 1970, plane crash) were super Marshall supporters would be an understatement. Feeling that the school needed a real American bison for its mascot, they bought one. It was a calf when they got it. To be able to share the excitement of the real Marco, the Proctors had a special trailer made so that he could attend parades, football games and other gatherings. When not appearing in public, Marco stayed at their farm. At half-time during the September 25, 1971, game – “the greatest in Marshall history” – Marco was in his trailer that was pulled by a Jeep around the field at Fairfield Stadium. One of the fraternities served as escort. It was really hot that day and the heat combined with the record crowd sounds caused an energetic Marco to kick out the tailgate and escape.
The crowd roared. The fraternity brothers encircled Marco the best they could and someone came up with a rope. Coach Lengyel, along with his other duties that day, became a wrangler. He got a loop around the horns and about 8 or 10 of the frat guys pulled Marco back into the trailer and tied him securely. The jeep drove off and the game continued. It was one of the best half-time shows ever, and certainly the best impromptu one in the long history of Fairfield Stadium.
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P
Marco
ran around for what seemed like a long time, seemingly unhappy that
he could not eat the plastic grass that made up the new playing
surface. The crowd loved it. People on the field were in a quandary
on how to herd him in. He was standing in the south end, about the
10 yard line, with the second half of the game about to
start. Xavier was to receive and one of their players lined up
deep. Hearing a snort, he looked over his shoulder. He saw this
bison just a few yards away and immediately took really long, slow
steps toward his bench.      |