Aaron Marsh, one of Eastern Kentucky’s early Black student-athletes and a former Boston Patriots wide receiver, died Aug. 7 in Shelbyville, Tennessee. He was 81.
Marsh’s football path ran from Dayton, Ohio, to Springfield High School, then to Eastern Kentucky State College, where he arrived in 1964 and played for Roy Kidd. He started his college career at tailback before shifting to wide receiver for his final two seasons, and that move turned him into one of the school’s most accomplished players.
By the end of his Eastern Kentucky run, Marsh had stacked up 147 receptions for 2,246 yards and 24 touchdowns. He was an All-Ohio Valley Conference selection in 1966 and 1967, then earned All-American honors as a senior. Eastern Kentucky also won the 1967 Grantland Rice Bowl with Marsh in the lineup.
His numbers were strong enough to leave school records that lasted for years. Marsh owned Eastern Kentucky’s single-game marks for receptions with 19 and receiving yards with 316.
He also held the single-season records for receptions with 73 and punt-return yards with 456 when the school unveiled its All-Century team in 2009. Eastern Kentucky later inducted him into its Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006.
Marsh carried that success into the pros and spent two seasons, 1968 and 1969, with the Boston Patriots in the American Football League, the franchise’s final years in the AFL before the NFL merger. He appeared in 16 games at wide receiver under Mike Holovak and Clive Rush. Boston played at Fenway Park during Marsh’s rookie season before moving to Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Mass. in 1969.
In those 16 games, Marsh caught 27 passes for 439 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran the ball four times for eight yards and added 210 kickoff-return yards on 10 returns over his two seasons with Boston, a franchise that became the New England Patriots before the 1971 season.
Tributes followed his death. Larry Kirksey, a four-year letterman at EKU who later coached 17 years in the NFL, wrote on Facebook: “I came to EKU because of him, hoping to follow in his footsteps.
I wasn’t even close to being the athlete he was, but I was fortunate enough to wear his number and tried my best to represent it with the respect and pride it deserved,” Kirksey wrote. “I had the opportunity to meet Aaron a couple of years ago and share my story with him.
He was gracious, humble, and genuinely interested. We spent some time talking about the game, how it has changed, and the memories that never leave us.”
EKU Football also posted a message mourning Marsh, calling him “Eternal Colonel Aaron Marsh” and saying he left “a legacy on and off the field here in Richmond.” The school added, “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.”
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