Following Boston College’s upset victory over No. 9 USC on Saturday night -- during which the team paid tribute to former BC lacrosse player Welles Crowther, who was killed saving lives in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks -- coach Steve Addazio presented a game ball to Crowther’s parents.

“We celebrated this game because we celebrated Welles. We celebrated him as a BC man,” Addazio said in front of his football team in a video posted by BC on Tuesday (above). “We celebrated his selflessness, and his ability to put other people ahead of himself. Service to others, it’s what our university stands for. Someone who had an opportunity to do something for other people and he paid the ultimate sacrifice to do that.”

BC honored Crowther by putting red bandanna patterns on its helmets, cleats and gloves and on gear worn by the coaching stuff. The red bandanna was Crowther’s signature, and something he was wearing as he saved the lives of a dozen people in the South Tower of the World Trade Center before he was killed in its collapse.

Crowther’s father, Jefferson, said receiving this football meant even more to him than the Emmy presented to him for ESPN’s OTL segment -- “The Man In The Red Bandanna” (video below) -- which told the story of Welles’ heroism of Sept. 11.

“For you guys to present this to us tonight is incredible,” he said.

After Jefferson mentioned how much he liked the way the cleats looked, one of the BC players -- Manny Asprilla -- gave him the shoes off his feet.