The right thing.
That’s the goal here. No one is making the argument that the NFL season would be flawed or that football is of utmost importance or that the league would be making a huge mistake if it canceled Sunday’s games.
Players, coaches, owners and NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue all want to do the right thing. In fact, they want President Bush to tell them what the right thing would be, and then they simply want to follow his lead.
That is, in fact, precisely what they were doing Wednesday: waiting for the president to communicate his recommendation before making a decision.
But one high-ranking league source said Wednesday afternoon that unless the president tells the NFL it should go ahead and play on Sunday–which is a distinct possibility–league officials want to cancel the games and shorten the season to 15 games out of respect for the victims of this week’s horrific tragedy and their families.
This does not seem to be the prevailing opinion.
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More and more Wednesday you heard similar views from players, coaches and fans–the games should be played as scheduled, because if they aren’t, then the bad guys win. That life must go on. That we need to show the world terrorism will not disrupt our lives, and there is no better way to show our patriotism than to fill 15 stadiums with 60,000 flag-waving, anthem-singing, living, breathing Americans getting on with their lives. That we all need the diversion.
They’re all nice, inspiring sentiments.
But it’s still wrong.
Think first not of the games that would be played in Miami, New Orleans or Chicago. Think of a joyous, patriotic display at Giants Stadium with the now-gaping Manhattan skyline in the background, the rubble still smoldering and the residents–Giants fans–who are tortured by loved ones still missing or dead.
Think of the New England Patriots or New York Jets getting on a plane–chartered or not–and of a league whose office is in midtown Manhattan grieving their personal losses.
Think of the Washington Redskins, many of whom have been driving past the burning Pentagon this week on their way to work.
It is out of simple respect for a loss unparalleled in U.S. history that, regardless of what other sports decide to do, the NFL stand up and do what’s right.
Many players and coaches said they wanted something to hit, somewhere to direct their anger, as misguided as that may be. But we don’t have to sell tickets and eat hot dogs and cheer on those pent-up feelings.
Nor do we have to interpret a show of decency as giving in to terrorists, letting them think they “won.” Sorry, but they already have. At least this round. And all the football games in 50 seasons combined cannot alter the sick minds of evil. Nor should we even try.
It has been pointed out that unlike 1963, when the NFL played its games just two days after President Kennedy was assassinated, this would be five days after Tuesday’s horror. Most religions mourn their dead for longer periods than that. Need we repeat that we’re talking about the worst tragedy in our history?
And let’s face it, if the events of Tuesday had taken place on Friday, there would still be a significant number of sports fans who would say the games should be played on Sunday. These are the same people who watch football games during their weddings. This is not the voice of reason we should be heeding.
Sure, games on Sunday would provide a diversion. But maybe we shouldn’t be diverted. Or if we are, maybe there are more productive, caring ways of being diverted, like being with our families, donating blood, praying for the victims.
The NFL says there are no threats to the safety of fans attending games should they be played on Sunday. So this is not a prime consideration. Besides, short of a complete lockdown–which took place at Super Bowl XXV during the Gulf War–it is not possible to guarantee the safety of 60,000-plus people sitting in a football stadium. Never has been, never will be.
The considerations involved in this decision are not those you draw up on a clipboard anyway. It is a decision of the heart, of compassion, of respect.
If we want to show the rest of the world what we are truly made of, what better way than to show them how much we care for each other?
And that our priorities truly are in the right place.