After the flags, the tears, the shows of solidarity, the NFL's return from a week off to mourn turned into a day to cheer up grieving New Yorkers.
The Giants and Jets won Sunday and New Yorker Jay Fiedler scored the winning touchdown for the Dolphins.
The Giants beat the Chiefs 13-3 as their defense recovered from a tough opening week in Denver. The Jets beat the Patriots 10-3 after three New York City firefighters, the brothers of New England guard Joe Andruzzi, participated in the coin toss in Foxboro.
Fiedler dived in for the winning touchdown with five seconds left as Miami beat Oakland 18-15. Yet another New Yorker, Cincinnati tight end Marco Battaglia, had tears in his eyes as he stood for the national anthem.
"My brother lost a close friend," Fiedler said. "And I know a lot of people who were very close to people that were lost."
All over the NFL, players, coaches and fans celebrated New York, where thousands are missing in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. Even officials in Kansas City, where the Giants played, wore NYPD and FDNY hats in honor of the more than 300 police and firefighters who died.
"We wanted to win this game for a lot of different reasons," Giants quarterback Kerry Collins said. "One of them was to brighten people's days back in New York."
This wasn't your ordinary NFL weekend, particularly because last week's games were postponed and the NFL is still trying to figure out how to play an entire 16-game season with full playoffs.
All over the league, fans had to go through extra security –– one man in Chicago had to hand over his sandwich bags. But most said it was worth the effort.
Two fans in Jacksonville, heeding the warnings to arrive early, actually got there before the security and entered the stadium early.
There were flags everywhere, one covering the entire field in Dallas. They were pinned to every player's helmet, draped over fans' backs and worn as headgear.
New England fans set aside their partisanship and gave the Jets a warm greeting, high-fiving players as they ran onto the field. In Kansas City, the Giants were applauded as they came out for practice and again when they were introduced for the game.
Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, born in New Jersey and a New York resident, was also there.
"I know I can speak for the firefighters, police and safety officials when I thank all of you today who are honoring them, and most importantly who have supported them in such public and extraordinary ways in the last 10 days," he said.
The Giants, who had been reading and hearing all week how much pressure they would be under, jumped to a quick 10-0 lead and let their defense carry them the rest of the way.
"Pressure is going into a 110-story building when it's about to collapse on you. Pressure is having 2,000-degree temperatures coming down on you. This is a game," said Giants linebacker Mike Barrow. He and his teammates spent last Saturday with rescue workers at the ruins of the World Trade Center.
The Giants took the field Sunday to a standing ovation from Chiefs fans, who normally rain down derision on visiting teams. The mayors of both Kansas City, Mo., and Kansas City, Kan., proclaimed Sunday "New York Day," and several banners used the famous heart symbol to proclaim "KC loves NY."
"The way they handled everything and greeted our players was incredible," coach Jim Fassel said. "This is a class organization, top to bottom, fans included."
There was an equally touching ceremony in Foxboro Stadium.
When the players and officials came out for the coin toss, they were joined by the firefighting Andruzzi brothers, in coats and fire hats wearing the Patriots jersey "63" under them. One of them, Jimmy Andruzzi, escaped from the World Trade Center just before the second tower collapsed Sept. 11.
"They really wanted this," said their father Bill. "They went through a traumatic experience,"
So did the nation.
But on the first day back, it seemed to get some of its joy back.
"It's a very good outlet of a lot of things you've got pent up inside," said Noelene Kennedy, entering Sun Devil Stadium for the Broncos-Cardinals game Sunday night. " I've been looking forward to coming and yelling my head off."
