From the early dawn memorial to the Jets-Cowboys kickoff, New Yorkers remembered 9/11.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The cheerleaders lining the tunnel as the home team came out were waving U.S. flags, which made a nice counterpoint to their white go-go boots.
That was perhaps the first sign that this was an opening night of the NFL season unlike any other.
It was the Dallas Cowboys against the New York Jets -- perhaps the NFL’s most popular team starting their season on the road against the best entry in the league's largest market.
It was a made-for-TV conclusion to a day in which the league that claims the attention of American sports fans more than any other made itself proxy for a nation remembering, mourning and celebrating -- sometimes at the same time.
The NFL has never been shy about aligning itself with what are perceived to be America’s populist, militarist interests -- hence the Super Bowl fly-overs and the armed forces recruitment ads on league broadcasts.
So if there were second thoughts about using a Sunday of football to recognize an anniversary of a global moment that set off complex geopolitical shockwaves that resonate still, well, it was hard to tell.
"This may be the first week of the regular season, but it has the feel of a Super Bowl week for the NFL," commissioner Roger Goodell, in attendance Sunday night, wrote in a letter to fans last week. "One of the reasons is that we will unite with the rest of the nation on Sunday to reflect on the anniversary of 9/11 and honour the spirit of America."
They did a more-than-passable job. The crowd of 78,700 in a brand new $1.6-billion amusement palace watched "taps" played on a quartet of massive high definition video screens. As "Amazing Grace" was washed down, a moment later an honour guard of service professionals unrolled an American flag large enough to cover every square inch of the field.
In a nice touch, members of the Jets and the Cowboys helped keep the edges taut during the national anthem.
Instead of J-E-T-S the crowd opted for U-S-A, U-S-A.
The people were engaged.
From the moment the NFL opening week schedule came out with its strong 9/11 flavour it was apparent that any real chances of a lockout delaying the 2011-12 season from starting were remote.
A cynic would call it a branding opportunity too good to miss. Those more inclined to take things at face value would nod when President George W. Bush said on Fox’s opening NFL montage: "We started to heal with the help of our national pastimes, with the flip of the coin and the roar of the crowd."
It likely depends what you’re healing from.
The avalanche of light and sound at MetLife Stadium was a contrast to the mood 12 hours earlier, 10 years after and a few miles away at Ground Zero.
A much smaller crowd began gathering in the post-dawn light on the streets around what were then the twin towers of the World Trade Centre and Sunday morning the site of a simple, dignified ceremony of remembrance for the families of the nearly 3,000 who died in the attacks.
This was not a football stadium full of lights and sounds. There was no tailgating.
On his way in with his brothers and sisters was Terry Greene, a picture of his sister, Lorraine Greene Lee, pinned to his shirt. She worked on the 101st floor of the South tower of the WTC. United Airlines Flight 175 hit just below the office where she was an administrative assistant. No further explanation necessary.
The Greenes as it turns out are Jets fans. "We’re season-ticket holders," Terry said, proudly.
The prospect of Sunday night’s match-up months in the waiting and now just hours away, brightened him.
But first there was the ceremonies at Ground Zero where the family would see their loved one's name etched in bronze as part of the National September 11 Museum and Memorial that will be open to the public Monday. Lorraine and Terry’s oldest brother, Tom, read her name aloud as part of the ceremony.
Then it was off to his mother’s house for lunch and then to Staten Island, where Lorraine lived, for another memorial.
Even in a few minutes' conversation outside the heavy white cement-block NYPD barriers protecting the memorial the prospect of the upcoming NFL season was an easy topic. I didn’t get a chance to ask about the NFL or sports and the role they played bringing people together or healing them in a time of loss.
But it was an obvious and welcome distraction from the intensity of the grief that was palpable Sunday morning as the sun climbed in advance of the first moment of silence -- 8:46 a.m. -- to recognize when American Airlines Flight 11 sliced through the north tower of the WTC a decade past.
"We’ll be watching tonight. The Jets are going to beat the Cowboys, " Terry told me. "We’ll be playing Philadelphia in the Super Bowl."
Lorraine had managed to talk to one of her sisters in the chaos after the first plane hit, assuring her that she was okay. Then the second plane came, tearing into her building, and the Greenes never heard from their sister again.
The Greenes excited about another season year of Rex Ryan’s reality show which was on full display Sunday night as the NFL did its part to make sure football fans would not forget.
But for all of that Terry said that they weren’t going to be at the game Sunday night. Not after Sunday morning. A decade wasn’t enough time.
"We gave the tickets away," he said, shrugging. "Too long of a day, you know?"
