Marshall players stretch as the Herd kicks off spring football practice in the snow on Tuesday, March 25, 2014, at Joan C. Edwards Stadium in Huntington.
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Evan McKelvey couldn’t have been more excited Tuesday.
It was the senior linebacker’s 23rd birthday and the start of his final spring football practice with the Marshall Thundering Herd.
However, he wasn’t exactly thrilled with the present Mother Nature decided to bless him with Tuesday afternoon at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
Marshall players and coaches fought through snow squalls that left the field covered for brief stages of the opening spring practice.
“Heat, snow, heat, snow,” McKelvey said. “Wait, what? I’ve never seen weather like this in my life. I never thought this was possible. I thought if it’s hot, it can’t snow if it’s hot. Right? I thought that’s how we learned in science. Now, that’s just messed my head up now.”
As soon as Marshall players took the field around 3:15 p.m. to stretch for the 3:30 p.m. practice, the first snow squall hit and left a blanket of white. With kickers being the first group to get in repetitions, it caused for an interesting open to practice.
However, just as soon as the snow came, it disappeared as warmth and sunshine beamed for the next 20 minutes.
It was enough warmth for sophomore quarterback Gunnar Holcombe to start sweating and force him to shed the hoodie that he had on underneath his jersey…