NFL: USA TODAY Sports-Archive
Aug 10, 1969; Bowling Green, OH, USA; FILE PHOTO; Boston Patriots receiver Aaron Marsh (29) in action against the Cincinnati Bengals at Perry Field during the 1969 preseason. Mandatory Credit: Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY NETWORK Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect (Reuters)
Aaron Marsh, an Eastern Kentucky football standout who became one of the school’s first Black student-athletes and later played for the Boston Patriots, died Aug. 7 in Shelbyville, Tennessee. He was 81.
Marsh spent two seasons (1968-69) in the American Football League — the Patriots’ last years in the AFL prior to the NFL merger. He played 16 games at wide receiver under head coaches Mike Holovak and Clive Rush. The Patriots played their home games out of Boston’s Fenway Park in Marsh’s rookie year before moving to Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Mass. in 1969.
In 16 games, Marsh caught 27 passes for 439 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed four times for eight yards. As a kickoff returner, Marsh racked up 210 yards on 10 returns over his two seasons with Boston (the franchise rebranded as the New England Patriots prior to the 1971 season).
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Marsh was born July 27, 1945, in Dayton, Ohio, and attended Springfield High School. He enrolled at Eastern Kentucky State College in 1964 and played for coach Roy Kidd. Marsh spent his first two seasons at tailback before moving to wide receiver for his final two seasons in college.
The position change helped define his college career. Marsh was named All-Ohio Valley Conference in 1966 and 1967 and earned All-American recognition as a senior. He helped Eastern Kentucky win the 1967 Grantland Rice Bowl and finished his career with 147 receptions for 2,246 yards and 24 touchdowns.
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Some of his school records lasted for decades. Marsh held 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 announced its All-Century team in 2009. He was inducted into the Eastern Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006.
Larry Kirksey, a four-year letterman at EKU who later spent 17 years coaching in the NFL, paid tribute to Marsh in a Facebook post.
“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.”
We ask all of Colonel Nation to join us in mourning the loss of Eternal Colonel Aaron Marsh, who has passed away, leaving a legacy on and off the field here in Richmond.
Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends. pic.twitter.com/2tckGZFSJH
— EKU Football (@EKUFootball) August 9, 2026
“We ask all of Colonel Nation to join us in mourning the loss of Eternal Colonel Aaron Marsh, who has passed away, leaving a legacy on and off the field here in Richmond,” the school posted to its Twitter/X page. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.”