Giants coach Tom Coughlin said he believes his team is ready to lift the spirits of people in New Jersey and New York.
Coach Tom Coughlin hopes his Giants can provide an escape for those in the New York area dealing with Sandy's aftermath by beating the Steelers.
By TOM CANAVAN
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The game between the Super Bowl champion New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday will be played despite transportation and power issues, along with growing concerns for weary and heartbroken residents displaced and devastated by Superstorm Sandy.
Commissioner Roger Goodell spoke with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Friday and was told the game would not divert any resources from relief efforts, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said.
There have been 53 deaths associated with the storm in New York and New Jersey and more than 2 million people were still without power Friday. There have been long lines to purchase gas throughout the two states as the effort to restore power continues. There will be no rail service to MetLife Stadium, the Giants said.
Aiello said Christie, who was giving an afternoon briefing, was pleased the game would be played.
Giants coach Tom Coughlin always felt the game would take place, and believes his team will be ready to lift the spirits of the people of New Jersey and New York.
“I think the mission will be quite clear,” Coughlin said. “Trying to provide a few hours of enjoyment for so many that have been devastated. I think they’ll do a good job of that.”
The Steelers changed travel plans because the hotel they booked in New Jersey did not have power. The team will fly in Sunday morning and leave after the game.
Coughlin said the Steelers’ decision not to stay in a hotel overnight was “noble” because it will give space to those who lost their dwellings.
“When you look at it, it’s a minor inconvenience considering what those people in New York and New Jersey went through,” Steelers offensive tackle Max Starks said. “You have seven million people without electricity, and a football game pales in comparison to that. You just hope you can do your best to take their minds off such a travesty for a couple of hours by playing some football.”
Pittsburgh defensive end Brett Keisel said the one-day trip is nothing compared to what those hit by the storm are handling.
“Not having power to go to and from work, they’re really fighting through it, so this is minor compared to what they’re going through,” Keisel said.
The Giants (6-2) are placing a high priority on this game, and it goes beyond football.
The team was given its marching orders Friday by Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff.
A long-time Giants fans and New Jersey resident, Odierno toured areas in both states hit by the storm, visited with some of the 10,000 servicemen in the area, then watched practiced. He relayed his experience to the players, with Coughlin noting the general was impressed by the resoluteness of the people.
“I think they will take forward the toughness, the resiliency of the people in this greater New York-New Jersey-Connecticut, the entire Eastern Seaboard, that’s been affected in such a way by this huge storm; I think that the message is the toughness here, the resiliency,” Coughlin said. “We will not be stopped by the storm. We will come back. We will fight our way through this. We will get things right again. Just the pride that has been demonstrated to the general this morning, I think he verbalized very well for us out here.”
Goodell will be at MetLife Stadium briefly Sunday afternoon to meet with first responders, then will fly to Atlanta for a previously scheduled fan forum.
The Giants have adjusted their football schedule since the storm struck Sunday, but many players have had to live without power at home.
Punter Steve Weatherford, wife Laura and their three children, including a newborn, stayed at the home of placekicker Lawrence Tynes and his family. Guard Kevin Boothe, his wife Rosalie and their two young children did not lose power in their home and hosted tight end Martellus Bennett and his wife, Siggi.
“I think everybody just kind of texted one another to make sure everyone was OK,” Boothe said. “We were able to help Martellus and his wife out last night. So that’s why we’re here, that’s why we’re teammates. It was great.
“‘My son (2-year-old Dante) loves him,” Boothe said. “I think he thought Martellus was there solely to play with him, so they had a great time. They were painting and doing a whole bunch of other things.”
Giants middle linebacker Mark Herzlich understands some of the desperation felt by those affected by the storm. His life was thrown into turmoil roughly three years ago when he was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer. He missed the 2009 college season.
“In some ways .¤.¤. you have to start all over,” Herzlich said comparing the storm and his illness. “You’ve basically put your life on hold. You take everything, and it stops in its track. You say, ‘Now where am I going to go from here?’
“You lose your house, you lose everything that you’ve ever had, you have to put it in the tank and say, ‘That’s it. That’s my life,’ or you can say, ‘Where do I go from here? How do I fight back?,’ Herzlich said. “ ‘How do I regain my possessions? How do I rebuild my life?’ I think that’s the same thing that cancer patients and cancer survivors have to do. If they get a bad diagnosis, are they going to let it destroy them and defeat them or are they going to take one foot and put it in front of the other and fight back.”