Nathan Avrunin’s Alma mater’s football team was presented with a gift the team will always cherish. Syracuse University’s football team had the honor of doing preseason training at Fort Drum with the military. A couple nights before leaving, the team was presented with an American flag by a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army. Scott Shafer, SU’s football coach, upon being asked if the flag would be presented at each football game empathetically explained that the flag would be honored and kept in a safe place.
His response was, “No chance. That flag has Afghan dust in it. They lost guys fighting under it. We’re going to keep it in a place of honor. We’re going to find a safe place for it. But we’re not going to carry it out of the tunnel. We’ll carry the battalion flag out of respect for the soldiers at Fort Drum, but not that one. It’s too sacred for that.”
Nathan Avrunin is proud of his team and the character of coach Shafer. With the football season just underway, it’s sure to be a good year for SU!