Football put on hold

By Jared Spinelli Sports Central Columnist

When it was announced late this week that the fifteen NFL games this weekend would be cancelled, mixed reactions stirred about the sports world. Overwhelmingly, the football players supported the decision. Citing reasons of not wanting to fly, wanting to be with family, and other reasons, the players, for the most part, wanted nothing to do with playing this weekend.

On the other side of the football world, the media and some people were split. Some reporters agreed that football should not be played at times like this, while some reporters said there should be games, saying that playing football will help start the healing and the "returning to normalcy". On ESPN, one such discussion was held. The debate was on, something that really did not have much importance, in the overall spectrum of the world.

In reality, America was attacked, and things are much more important than playing football. The American people came out in droves, volunteering their time, donating money and blood, doing whatever they could to ease the pain of those most affected by this tragedy.

The San Francisco 49ers gave 70 pints of blood. The Pittsburgh Steelers took part in a memorial for the victims of the plane crash outside their home city. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Keyshawn Johnson has donated his entire paycheck from one game. The New York Giants' Jason Whittle stayed overnight in a hospital at the bedside of his best friend's brother, a construction worker who was hit by debris from the World Trade Center's collapse, and was seriously injured. There are many more stories, so many, that just about everybody has been affected, one way, or another.

For one week, the sports world was put on hold. No games, no nothing. Just prayer, and time with family is all the players want to deal with right now. Football is the last thing on these players' minds, and that is rightfully so. Things are more important than football games. Thousands of people died on Tuesday, all were innocent, and all did not need to die.

In the aftermath of all this terror, America is now as unified as they have ever been, since the Revolution. American flags are selling out of stores. Flags are everywhere -- on cars, houses, and on clothing. There is patriotism everywhere, a great site. It is just a shame it took a tragedy to do all this good in the world.