Louisville Cardinals give city something to rally around following UPS plane crash
About 50 hours later, the No. 10 Louisville Cardinals men’s basketball team hosted Jackson State at the KFC Yum! Center downtown. Forty-eight hours after that, No. 15 Louisville football hosted Cal at L&N Stadium, less than 2 miles from Muhammad Ali International Airport, with planes flying overhead as fans trickled into their seats.
Before the national anthem played either night, before Kasean Pryor made his long-awaited return Thursday and before the Cards' stunning loss to the Bears 29-26 Saturday, both programs held a moment of silence.
“In moments like this, we’re reminded that the true measure of a city’s strength is how its people unite when the unthinkable happens,” the PA system boomed. “Louisville always rises, standing together through sorrow and recovery alike. We pause now for a moment of silence to honor the lives lost, extend our condolences to their families and thank the first responders, whose courage and compassion reflect the best of who we are.”
Attendees observed a moment of silence for the victims and families of the UPS Flight 2976 crash before facing Jackson State at the KFC Yum! Center on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2025.
And that was it. Just a moment. Some hung their heads as if in prayer. Others looked on with their chins held high. Then the games began. And they felt the same as any other. Fans cheered for the “C-A-R-D-S” like normal. Still griped at lousy calls by the officiating crew. Still heckled the opposition. Still threw L's to the sky in approval of hustle plays.
In that arena and stadium, if only for a few hours, Louisville felt normal. Just as U of L athletics director Josh Heird hoped.
"People want something to rally around, and they also want something to just take their minds away from everyday life," Heird told The Courier Journal. "... For two hours, they could be upset at the refs or somebody who's not hitting shots and not have to worry about anything that's going on in the real world.
“There's so many situations where a tragedy takes place, and the next unifying moment is a sporting event. I say it all the time. Sports brings people together. That's what sports does."
During a vigil held by a local Teamsters union just two hours before tipoff Thursday, Mayor Craig Greenberg announced the crash’s death toll had risen to 13. Three of those 13 casualties were identified as UPS crew members Richard Wartenberg (captain of Flight 2976), Lee Truitt (first officer, or second-in-command, of Flight 2976) and Dana Diamond (the international relief officer aboard Flight 2976). Basketball coach Pat Kelsey opened his news conference Thursday night by naming the three crew members, thanking first responders and sending his “heartfelt thoughts and deep prayers” to everyone affected.
The cargo plane left SDF about 5:15 p.m. Tuesday before crashing with 220,000 pounds of fuel. More than 200 first responders fought to put out the flames. Greenberg, Rep. Morgan McGarvey and Gov. Andy Beshear visited the site Wednesday. They described the destruction in great detail.
McGarvey said Wednesday the scene in his hometown was "apocalyptic,” something “out of a ‘Terminator’ movie.”
Beshear compared the wreckage to other tragedies he’s navigated as governor since 2019: “I’ve had to order freezer trucks in a pandemic. I’ve walked the line of an F4 tornado in my dad’s hometown. I’ve seen towns hit by flooding we’d only describe as biblical. And what this scene is, is, um, violent.”
Greenberg said Thursday, “The intensity of the flames and what that did so quickly to a half-a-mile-long debris field, was unimaginable prior to seeing it with my own eyes firsthand.” He used the words “tragic” and “horrific” to describe all the “charred, mangled metal” before them.
Louisville baseball played Bellarmine at Jim Patterson Stadium the day after the Old National Bank shooting in 2023. Players from both teams stood on the first- and third-base lines as names and faces of the victims shone on the outfield video board.
At Thursday’s and Saturday’s games, video boards broadcast a black screen with white lettering that read “502,” with a heart in place of the zero, and “Louisville Strong.” Louisville football players wore helmet stickers with the same design to honor the victims of the crash. Originally slated as U of L's "Salute to Service" game, honoring military personnel for Veterans Day Nov. 11, first responders and emergency service members received a standing ovation for their courage during a timeout with 5 minutes, 58 seconds left in the first half.
Otherwise, these felt like normal November nights in a college sports town. When looked at closely, though, common clichés took on deeper meaning.
T-shirts with the phrase “Power of the Unit,” a classic Pat Kelsey-ism about intrasquad togetherness, spoke to the mentality of a community in mourning. An “L1C4” (“Louisville first, Cards forever”) sign in Section 101 of the Yum! Center captured what these teams mean to a city in crisis. Postgame heedings from players to take the season “day by day” could be co-opted and turned into a life mantra for those still struggling.
“Call it this juxtaposition,” Heird said, “where you go from, ‘sports doesn’t matter.’ In the moment, sports is so irrelevant. But then as soon as you can get to that position where it’s like, ‘OK, it’s time to move forward,’ sports is as big of a unifier as anything.”
Heird said there was no thought given to the idea of postponing Louisville Athletics events after the crash. The department was just trying to figure out what was going on in those first moments. Heird and his staff knew there had been a crash. They knew authorities believed three crew members were on board. And at the time, that was it.
U of L was hosting the ACC field hockey championship quarterfinals Tuesday at Trager Stadium, just minutes from the airport. “There’s pictures of the field hockey games going on with that giant plume of smoke,” Heird said.
UPS made Louisville an air cargo hub in the 1980s and opened the Worldport package sorting center in 2002. Some 20,000 people work there. More than 300 flights take off from and land at the facility each day. UPS is the largest employer in the Louisville area. It's woven into the city's very fabric.
“It’s not even a second thought,” Heird said about UPS aircraft regularly flying over campus. “You’re just like, ‘There goes a plane,’ every four minutes. ‘There’s a plane. There’s a plane. There’s a plane.’ And, yes, the thought crossed my mind, ‘OK, what if they were taking off in the other direction? … Life is precious. It’s fleeting. Don’t take it for granted.”
Reach college sports enterprise reporter Payton Titus at [email protected] and follow her on X @petitus25. Subscribe to her "Full-court Press" newsletter here for a behind-the-scenes look at how college sports' biggest stories are impacting Louisville and Kentucky athletics.
