Billy Joe Mantooth Billy Joe Mantooth ( July 23 , 1951 – July 23 , 1986 ) was an American football linebacker from Clendenin , West Virginia , known as " The Man - Eater " during his playing days . He started his career at Ferrum College ; after being honored as an NJCAA All - America n in 1970 , he transferred to West Virginia University . He also later played in the NFL . High school . Born to Rhondle and Freda Mantooth , Billy Joe Mantooth played his high school football at Herbert Hoover High School in Falling Rock , West Virginia . He wore number 31 , and played on both offense and defense . It was his skills as a linebacker which won him selection to the West Virginia All - State Football team in 1968 . Mantooth hoped to play Division I football after graduating from high school , but the college coaches said that while he was a very promising linebacker , they advised that at less than 200 pounds , Mantooth needed to " bulk up " to compete at the major college level . College . Mantooth started his college career playing junior college football for the Ferrum College Panthers . After earning NJCAA All - America n honors in 1970 , he was heavily recruited by several different schools . Recruited by Marshall University / 1970 plane crash . Mantooth ' s name is well known in the story of the 1970 Marshall Thundering Herd football team . En route back to Huntington , West Virginia from a game against East Carolina , the Marshall team ' s Southern Airways Flight 932 clipped some trees on approach to Tri - State Airport and the plane crashed at a nearly vertical altitude into a ravine short of the runway . All seventy - five people on board were killed . The football team was decimated : thirty - seven players and five of the eight coaches lost their lives . The lives of two Marshall coaches were spared due to a recruiting trip trying to bring Mantooth to the Thundering Herd , as assistant coaches Red Dawson and Gail Parker were on their way to see the star linebacker known as " The Man - Eater " at Ferrum College in Ferrum , Virginia . Dawson had actually driven to the East Carolina game and , joined by Parker ( who had switched places with Deke Brackett , another coach ) , was to drive to Ferrum from Greenville , North Carolina at the game ' s conclusion . However , en route to see Mantooth , Dawson and Parker heard about the crash on the radio . West Virginia University . In 1971 , Mantooth signed with West Virginia University to finish his college career at a Division I school ; he had gained 40 pounds of muscle since high school . He reportedly choose WVU because he was a West Virginia native and because of the excitement around town about new head coach and offensive innovator Bobby Bowden . Wearing number 50 , Mantooth was a co - captain of the WVU football team in 1972 . 1972 West Virginia vs . Penn State Game . West Virginia fans clearly remember a key play from the 1972 Penn State game involving Mantooth : Penn State ' s Bob Nagle fumbled before the goal line , and two West Virginia players — Mantooth and Dennis Harris — successfully pounced on the ball at the three - yard line , yet Penn State was incorrectly awarded a touchdown . NFL career . In 1973 , Mantooth joined the NFL as a linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles when Coach Mike McCormack found Mantooth at the NFL ' s free agent camp in April . Mantooth was released by the Eagles that summer before the 1973 NFL season began . He was drafted by the WFL ' s Philadelphia Bell in 1974 in the 37th round as the 435th pick , but Mantooth instead remained in the NFL by joining the roster of the Houston Oilers , where he remained until 1975 . " The Big Blow " . In April 1981 , Mantooth , who was 6 ' 3 " , 230 lb . at the time , was involved in " The Big Blow " , an altercation where he punched former University of Kentucky football player Dan Fowler , rendering the 6 ' 4 " , 240 lb . Fowler unconscious . In 1982 , a Fayette Circuit Court jury awarded $ 20 , 000 ( $ in dollars when adjusted for inflation ) to Fowler after he sued Mantooth over the punch , but the award was overturned by Kentucky Court of Appeals in 1983 and then reinstated by the Kentucky Supreme Court in 1984 . Death . A resident of Bridgeport , West Virginia , Mantooth was killed in a one - car crash on Interstate 79 near Sutton , West Virginia on July 23 , 1986 while employed by Metec Inc . of Lexington , Kentucky . Family . Mantooth was survived by his widow , Pam , and daughter , Michelle , who earned her degree in psychology at her father ' s alma mater and earned a McNair Scholarship for her pursuit of a Ph . D . He was also survived by his older brother , John ( nicknamed " Butch " ) , and three sisters , Rhonda , Tammy , and Loretta .