Along with the rest of the country and media, we are pausing to look back at the events of ten years ago on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. Our “angle,” of course, is the effect of that day on football and the Green Bay Packers. Above, this was the cover of the season-opening game program when we attended the Detroit-Green Bay game on Sunday, September 9th. It rained hard the entire game, and the Packers came out on top, 28-6.
The attack on the following Tuesday morning brought the country and the N.F.L. to a screeching halt. To read about how 9/11 affected the Green Bay Packers that week, please read this article by former Packers V.P. Andrew Brandt. After the games on the following Sunday were rescheduled to the end of the season, the Packers played the following Monday night at home against the visiting Washington Redskins. We attended this game as well (game program seen above), and it was a momentous affair with the added security, the stadium brimming with patriotism, and the Packers kicking some serious tail on Jeff George and the ’Skins, 37-0. To read a detailed description of how the attacks affected the 2001 N.F.L. schedule, please go here.
The box in the middle of this page from the September 24, 2001 game program spells out some of the new aspects of the football world post-9/11.
Green Bay Packers linebacker Chris Gizzi,an Air Force reservist, carries the U.S. flag onto the field before the game against the Washington Redskins at Lambeau Field on Monday, Sept. 24, 2001. It was the first Monday night game after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Green Bay Press-Gazette archives
This was the scene at the Redskins game in the newly-patriotic America.
These spreads from an issue of N.F.L. Insider that year also show the patriotism that was sweeping the N.F.L. world at the time.
Lastly, this is the issue of Sports Illustrated that followed the return of baseball and football to the playing fields after the tragedy.
We recall reading this article at the time and thinking, “Really?”
The headline says it all for anyone old enough at the time to realize its importance in history and the future.
