September 11th Should Be a National Holiday, Not an NFL Holiday

I got to work early on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. Our secretary and I were the only people in the office when the phone rang. It was her sister, telling her to put on the TV. One of the World Trade Center buildings was on fire, and they thought a plane accidentally ran into it.

Did a plane go off course? Did a news helicopter fly too close? Nobody knew what happened, until we watched the second plane hit. This wasn't an accident.

I immediately tried to call my best friend who lived in New York and went to law school in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge to tell him to stay the hell home because Manhattan was under attack. There was no way to get through. Like everyone else trying to reach their loved ones, I kept trying and trying, not caring that I was part of the reason the phone grid was so overloaded with calls that nobody could get through. I didn't care about anyone else right then. I cared about my friends and family.

As I was frantically trying to get in touch with him, news broke that the Pentagon was also hit. I thought the world was ending. In that moment—call it panic or fear or paranoia—I assumed the entire East Coast was going to be under attack in a matter of minutes.

Thankfully, this story doesn't end as sadly as thousands of others did on 9/11. I was able to reach my friend on some form of public transportation and I began feeding him information from the TV he would relay the other passengers. He was just over a mile away from where the planes hit and he was getting updates from me, from TV, telling others what was going on because the air was so filled with smoke, dust and debris they couldn't even look up into the sky to see the buildings were suddenly missing.

My office was 35 miles away from the World Trade Center. From our window, we could see the smoke and ash billowing from the fallen buildings. My wife—now, not at the time—lived a block off the river in Hoboken. She had a front-row seat to the worst reality show any of us had ever seen. It's not overstating to think that September 11th changed us as people. It changed everyone. You didn't have to see the smoke from your window or watch the buildings fall from your front step to feel the impact of that moment.

There are minute details from the day that will never escape my mind. I will never forget sitting in my office watching the events unfold while my boss got up from his desk, strapped an overstuffed bag across his shoulders and went to the football office. It was Tuesday, and in college football that meant it was press conference day.

It looked like World War III just started less than an hour from our building and my boss was focused on football.

And so it may be a bit unfair, with my memories of September 11th being what they are, to have such anathema for what the NFL is doing on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

September 11th should be a national holiday. September 11th should not be a football holiday.

I believe the government should shut down on September 11th every year for a national day of remembrance. I believe schools should be closed, too. I admit my feelings about 9/11 are based on personal memories of looking at a gaping hole in the New York City skyline as I drove over the Verrazano Bridge a few days after. I know the memory of watching hours upon hours of news coverage with people rushing down to Ground Zero with homemade signs in hopes their loved ones somehow made it out alive is what makes me feel this way. I know it's based on the hours I spent making and selling stickers (stickers!) to do something to raise money for the Red Cross and victims' families.

I didn't think it then and I don’t think it now: The day has nothing to do with football.

During the NFL lockout, I had a heated discussion with an NFL television personality about how the league was trying to use September 11th as a negotiating tactic. How many comments and tweets did we see posing, "how bad would it look if the NFL was still in a lockout and didn't play games on September 11th…of all days?"

This wasn't just the league. Football writers and TV people kept saying this too. How bad would it look if the NFL players and owners were more concerned about money and contracts than playing FOOTBALL on the 10-year anniversary of 9/11? That's how people thought during the lockout. I could not believe it. The NFL does not own September 11th. The two are not connected. They are, in fact, mutually exclusive.

There should be separation of church and state in America, even when we're talking about the church of professional football.

And yet here we are. Football is back, and the NFL has rolled out a list of the great things they'll be doing on September 11th to honor the victims and their families of the tragedies 10 years ago. Some of what the NFL is doing is really great. The league and NFLPA are donating $1 million to 9/11-based charities, $250,000 of which will be raised from proceeds of NFL auctions.

There are other great things, too. Each stadium will be honoring local first responders. There will a national tribute video shown on each network and in the stadiums. Certainly the TV directors will be charged with finding as many American flags as possible after the league shows someone playing Taps from locations near where each plane went down.

I don't want it to sound like the NFL is doing anything wrong, other than making 9/11 about them. The league scheduled the Cowboys and the Jets for Week 1, putting the first Sunday Night game of the year in the New York market against "America's Team." That's just smart marketing, I suppose. Putting the Giants against the Redskins outside Washington feels a little forced, though. Mentioning in a 9/11 press release that "[e]ight games will kick off at 1:00 PM ET, including the Baltimore Ravens hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are based approximately 80 miles from Shanksville, PA (CBS)" is too much.

The NFL press release reads like the league is co-opting 9/11 to use as a promotional campaign:

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"The games and broadcasts on that opening Sunday will unite fans to recognize those who lost their lives, honor the families who lost loved ones, and salute the American spirit, the early responders on 9/11, and other heroes that contributed to the nation’s recovery."

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We don’t need "games and broadcasts" to unite us on Sunday. Simply turning the calendar will accomplish that.

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"Coaches, players and local first responders and other heroes will come together to hold field-length American flags for the playing of the National Anthem prior to each game."

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Why not let all first responders and other heroes hold the flags? Because that's not as good of a photo opportunity for the league.

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"Players, coaches and sideline personnel will wear a special NFL 9/11 ribbon as a patch or pin on their uniforms and sideline apparel.  All stadiums hosting games on September 11 will feature the ribbon logo on the field."

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Why does the league feel the need to have "a special NFL 9/11 ribbon?" Why can't the American flag serve as that reminder? Why does the league have to brand itself with 9/11 in a special way?

To truly honor the victims of 9/11, the NFL should have scheduled all the games for Thursday or Friday or Monday or, college-be-damned, Saturday. If the NFL really wanted to honor the victims of 9/11, they would start the season next week.

There are certainly a lot of NFL fans—including those in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.—who will look at what the NFL is doing this weekend as a great thing. For many, football will be the escape they need. I get that. I really do…and it's not like I'm going to boycott the games. I just wish the NFL wasn't using the date as a subconscious way to remind people of how uniquely American the sport is. To me, the 10th anniversary of September 11th should have nothing to do with football.