Jason Garrett recalls the humanity people showed in the days following 9/11
New York Giants offensive coordinator Jason Garrett speaks to the media on Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Jason Garrett was in his Upper West Side apartment, unable to sleep after a cross-country trip back from Denver. The constant blare of sirens heading south were nonstop. Then a friend called and told him what had happened.
Two planes had hit the World Trade Center, setting off the worst terrorist attacks in American history and a life-changing sequence of events around the world.
Nearly 20 years to the day later, Garrett can recall the details as if it happened yesterday.
"Obviously, it was a tragic time in our country’s history, and just having been here, the memories are really vivid for me," said the Giants’ offensive coordinator, who was a backup quarterback for Kerry Collins in the 2001 season. "I can remember so many specific details of the day, and certainly the week and the time to follow. It was just a really, really sad time."
Nearly 3,000 lives were lost in the attacks at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a downed plane in Shanksville, Pennsylvainia, that was headed for the U.S. Capitol. It was one of the darkest days in American history, a time no one who lived through those events can ever forget.
Yet it was also a time when humanity was at its best, when people pulled together in tragedy and showed a spirit and kinship that defied the evil that brought down the towers, destroyed part of the Pentagon and left smoldering wreckage in a field less than 200 miles from Washington, D.C.
"It was amazing how this area and our country, in many ways our world, came together after 9/11," said Garrett, a longtime backup quarterback in Dallas who went on to become the Cowboys’ coach from 2010-19. He was hired as the Giants’ offensive coordinator before the 2020 season. "I can remember we were going to go donate blood, and they literally said, ‘We’ve had so many people want to donate blood, we do not need any more blood.’ To us, that was always like this amazing thing, how everybody rallied around the cause after such a tragedy."
The attacks occurred the morning after the Giants lost their regular-season opener to the Broncos on a Monday night in Denver. The team’s charter landed early Tuesday morning at Newark Airport, just hours before the planes hit the World Trade Center. Garrett couldn’t have realized it at the time, but he and the Giants would play an immeasurable role in the healing process.
Giants coach Jim Fassel, who died of a heart attack on June 7, was adamant about supporting first responders, and he and the players visited lower Manhattan several times after 9/11.
"It was such a sad, emotional time," Garrett said. "In many ways, I think we felt fortunate as members of this team to be able to try to help the community. We spent a lot of time at firehouses and visiting police departments and some of the people who lost their dads or their moms. At least you felt like you were doing something. [Vice president of community and corporate relations] Allison Stangeby and everybody here at the Giants did an amazing job connecting us with the community in that regard."
One of the most incredible moments for Garrett came when the Giants played their first game after the attacks. Commissioner Paul Tagliabue canceled Week 2 games, and the Giants faced Kansas City on the road in their next game. Garrett was amazed at how welcoming the fans were, especially in a place known for its allegiance to the home team.
"For years, you go there and it’s like, ‘Wow, this is a challenging environment,’ " he said. "I remember going out to warm up, and the fans were so warm and welcoming. It just seemed like such a surreal experience. This fan base in Kansas City that was always so behind their team, but you also felt their support for our team and for people in our area, and that was a great takeaway. The national anthem, I can remember guys were just crying. Then you had to kind of get your energy right, take a deep breath and go play a football game.
"Personally, I held [for field goals] in that game for the first time, and I can remember the pressure of that. Needing a field goal late in the game and Morten Andersen was our kicker and just making sure, ‘Hey, catch it and get it down. This is damn important.’ "
The Giants won, 13-3.
Afterward, Fassel assembled the team for a photo that Garrett keeps on his desk.
"After the game, [Fassel] brought everybody in and said, ‘Just kind of get in the locker room,’ and we all got in this picture," Garrett said. "We felt a real burden and a responsibility to have success for this area and for the people who were going through such challenging times. I thought that moment captured it where we all kind of came together. It's still one of my favorite pictures I've ever had in football."
The emotions of that time will never leave him.
"It wasn't about being liberal or conservative," he said. "It was about being an American and it was about being a human being."
Bob Glauber retired in 2022 after covering the NFL for nearly 40 years. He was selected in 2021 for the Bill Nunn Career Achievement Award by the Pro Football Writers of America, and is a three-time winner of the New York State Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. President of the PFWA for the 2018-20 seasons, he is the author of “The Forgotten First” and “Guts and Genius.”
