Jeff Gentner / AP file

Matthew McConaughey stars as coach Jack Lengyel in the movie "We Are Marshall," which tells the story of a rebuilding year after a 1970 plane crash killed much of that year's "Thundering Herd" football team and several community members.

Many in Huntington, an Ohio River town with a population of about 50,000, don’t understand why the story of Marshall’s climb to prominence in the decades after the crash wasn’t picked up on sooner.

Jack Lengyel, who coached the 1971 team, tried for years to drum up interest in a movie. While athletic director at Navy from 1988 to 2001, Lengyel came to know people at the three major television networks as well as at ESPN and HBO.

“Everybody would express some interest, but it would never rise to the occasion to say ’Well, yes, let’s make a movie.”’

Marshall spokesman Keith Spears says that over the years various production companies had approached him about doing a film, but none had the experience or budget to do the project justice. Then, last summer, two came to Marshall at the same time.

Ultimately it was Thunder Road, with the backing of Warner Bros., that won out.

“They were absolutely committed to telling the story in a way that was respectful to the families, to the community and also in a way that was hardly maudlin but invigorating and revitalizing,” Marshall president Stephen Kopp said.

Despite the production company’s promises, there was still wariness among those closest to the tragedy.

When Keith Morehouse was first approached about the movie he was a bit guarded and kept production officials at arm’s length. Morehouse was 9 when he lost his father, Gene, Marshall’s sports information director and radio play-by-play announcer, in the crash.

But Linden, Viola and others associated with the film spent a great deal of time with Morehouse and other family members to make sure the movie upheld the dignity of the victims.

“I think they went above and beyond to try to accommodate everybody and to make a good movie as well,” said Morehouse, who followed in his father’s footsteps as a sports announcer and is now sports director at WSAZ-TV.

Oliver was also wary, saying he “didn’t want to be a part of somebody coming in pimping Marshall, trying to gain their fame and fortune on the heels of people that have given their lives for the program.”

But after seeing the movie, he believes people will think, “’That was pretty good and those people persevered.’ And if you know anything about Marshall now, you’ll know it was worth it.”

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