Linden family welcomed by Herd fans

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Hundreds of Marshall University fans offered a collective "thank you" to the Linden family Saturday afternoon.

Yes, Eric and Pat Linden wore Central Florida garb to the UCF-Thundering Herd football Homecoming clash, but they were more than welcome among the Green and White. Congratulations and gratitude were directed toward the Lindens, parents of "We Are Marshall" movie screenwriter Jamie Linden.

Jamie Linden wasn't in attendance for UCF's victory, but his family, including brother Brian (a UCF gradute), were welcome guests at the overflow Big Green tailgate.

"I'm wearing my UCF shirt but I was very torn," said Jamie's father, Eric. "When I'm in Huntington, I'm Marshall all the way.

"(Thundering Herd fans) have been tremendous. They've been outstanding."

"We've had tremendous experiences in Huntington so now we feel like we have four football teams that we keep up with -- three that our families graduated from and Marshall because we just felt such a connection," added Pat Linden, Jamie's mother.

"We Are Marshall" chronicled the comeback from Marshall's 1970 football team plane crash. The Warner Bros. movie was released in December 2006 and recently was released on DVD.

Pat remembers well her initial viewing of her son's first major motion picture.

"Our son was a little reluctant for us to see it because it was unfinished," she said. "Because he was concerned about us seeing it I didn't expect to be overwhelmed. And when it was concluded, my first reaction was 'that is a powerful story.'

"And it's interesting because the first time when one of the vice presidents at Marshall saw it that was exactly his words -- 'this is powerful'."

Jamie Linden, a Florida State graduate, was drawn to Marshall's unique legacy via Red Dawson, a former FSU player and 1970 Thundering Herd assistant coach. The story stuck with Linden and he was moved to pen the movie that would star Matthew McConaughey and Matthew Fox.

"I think he feels a tremendous bond with Red Dawson," Pat Linden said. "They hit it off great from the get-go. They have the Marshall connection and of course the FSU connection.

"... I don't think anybody could have possibly had a better first-time screenwriting experience."

Eric Linden was in Vietnam when Marshall's chartered flight crashed near Tri-State Airport on Nov. 14, 1970. The news didn't fully resonate at the time, Eric said, but he and his family now share a very real connection with the Thundering Herd football community.

Members of that community jokingly jabbed the Lindens for their choice of apparel Saturday. As a compromise, Pat Linden clipped a Marshall pin to her UCF visor. The pin was a gift from a Herd fan at last year's meeting at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.

"We told them we agonized over this," she said. "Our conclusion was we plan to go to Huntington for the UCF game (next season) and we're going to wear the Marshall green."