SOMETIMES it seems as if sports heroes, or sports teams, are all we have. When an irrepressible band of American amateurs beat the Russians 25 years ago at a time when Soviet troops were in Afghanistan, our hearts beat red, white and blue.
Immediately following 9-11, when we looked at our skyline and could not believe what we could not see, as we searched desperately for a way to help the healing process, we turned to the Yankees and the Mets and the Giants and the Jets.
When the Saints came marching into Giants Stadium last night, they came marching in as America’s Team. They came marching in as the displaced football team representing a tiny sliver of hope for all their displaced fans in shelters everywhere. Recover and Rebuild once was the annual story of a Saints season; now, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, it is the story of America’s season.
The reminders of an unspeakable human tragedy were everywhere inside Giants Stadium last night – SAINTS painted in the west end zone; the Saints themselves, wearing their home black jerseys; the Giants in their white road jerseys with red numbers; New Orleans natives Harry Connick Jr. and Branford Marsalis performing the national
anthem on piano and saxophone; the Saintsations cheerleaders; New Orleans jazz trumpeter Irvin Mayfield playing America The Beautiful; Saints banners on the walls. But no one knew better than the Saints and their 600 fans shuttled in by the NFL that there is no place like Dome.
Such was the emotional backdrop against which the 1-0 Giants, road warriors in their own home, attempted to toil as a remorseless, businesslike football team. For three hours, the challenge for the Giants was to forget whom they were playing, and why they were playing whom they were playing where they were playing them, and remember that they are New York’s Team playing America’s Team.
“It’ll be unique; Saints colors in Giants Stadium,” Tiki Barber said before the game. “But I don’t think ultimately it will affect us.
“We have a clarity about us this season that even if we lose focus a little bit it’s not really detrimental to us; we’re able to come back from it and play with the right kind of intensity to win a game.”
Barber removed his jersey and changed into a Deuce McAllister jersey for a Reebok hurricane relief television ad that was scheduled to air last night. “Be a Saint,” he said. By 7:30 p.m., he was back in his familiar 21, happy to Be a Giant.
For three hours, Eli Manning, who was also featured in the ad, had to forget that he was trying to shred his hometown team. “He’s not Joe Montana yet,” Barber said, “but he’s working at it, and he has a great confidence in himself. We like the fact that he doesn’t have to be extraordinary right now. He can work his way into being the great quarterback we think he will be.”
In the meantime, Barber can take the pressure off him while Manning masters the offensive system. “If last year my grasp was a four, then this year it’s an eight,” Manning said.
The addition of Plaxico Burress has already begun to pay dividends. “He’s just a freak athlete,” Manning said. A healthy Amani Toomer soon will too. “I think we’ve got to get the ball to Amani,” Manning said. “It’s my fault not getting him some catches last week, so we’ve got to fix that and get him back into this offense.”
America’s Team deserved a standing ovation last night. The Saints, for so long a woebegotten franchise, are trying to write an inspirational fairy tale for the ages, willed on by a pleading fan base that for three hours strains to escape the anguish that has flooded it. “But after kickoff, it’s just a game for us,” Barber said. “The sentiment is obviously in their favor; I rooted for ’em last week, just because of what they represent to that town. It’s still football, and we’re still out to win.”