FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Patriots silenced their “End Zone Militia” on Sunday night, taking the muskets away from the Revolutionary War re-enactors who fire into the air to celebrate every score.
The memory of the Connecticut school shooting was still too fresh for the sight of firearms and the smell of gunpowder.
“It just doesn’t show the right respect for those that lost their lives,” said Bob Elliott, the group’s sergeant. “But we’re still here cheering (the Patriots) on.”
Two days after 20 children and six adults were shot to death at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., NFL fans gathering in stadiums across the country honored the victims’ memory with periods of silence and reflection. Some teams darkened their scoreboards and lowered their flags to half-staff, while others wore helmet decals or black ribbons.
After learning he was the favorite player of one 6-year-old victim, New York Giants receiver Victor Cruz wrote “R.I.P. Jack Pinto,” ”Jack Pinto, my hero” and “This one is for you” on his shoes for the game against the Falcons in Atlanta. Cruz said he called the boy’s family after hearing he was a Giants fan and was told they planned to bury him in one of Cruz’s No. 80 jerseys.
“I don’t even know how to put it into words,” Cruz said. “There are no words that can describe the type of feeling that you get when a kid idolizes you so much that unfortunately they want to put him in the casket with your jersey on. I can’t even explain it.”
The Patriots, the closest team to Newtown that played at home on Sunday, wore a helmet sticker with the city seal and a black ribbon on it; the cheerleaders and mascot wore black armbands, and owner Bob Kraft pledged $25,000 to the community, where he also owns a box-making factory. Before the game, the public address announcer asked for silence while 26 flares were sent into the air.
But when the Patriots kicked a field goal midway through the second quarter, the soldiers in the End Zone Militia clapped their empty hands like the rest of the crowd. Elliott said the Patriots asked the group, which has been standing sentry at home games since the mid-1990s, to skip the ceremonial fire.
“Out of respect for those that were killed, we were asked yesterday not to fire the muskets, which we all agreed with,” said Elliott, who is a manufacturing manager for a dental implant-maker. “It was just such a horrific thing. It’s hard to put it into words.”
The Sunday Night Football broadcast on NBC, featuring the high-profile matchup of the Patriots and 49ers, was moved to CNBC and the NBC Sports Network while President Barack Obama addressed the nation. The game returned to its regular channel after the president’s remarks from Newtown.
The Giants, another popular team in southwestern Connecticut, affixed a decal with the school’s initials — “SHES” — on their helmets.
“Being close to home, the players were greatly upset about it,” Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. “Many of the players have young children, so they can empathize with the parents who had young children killed.”
Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt wrote “Newtown, CT” on one of the gloves he wore in warmups and on both of his shoes for the game.
“We’re playing football, and there’s something much bigger going on in this world,” Watt said. “I just wanted them to know, and I wanted everyone to know, that our thoughts are with them. Nothing is bigger than that. We played our game today, but honestly our thoughts are with them, the families, the teachers, the friends, the first responders, who had to go see that. My dad is a first responder. They were just kids.”
In St. Louis, the players who wear No. 26 — Rams running back Daryl Richardson and Vikings cornerback Antoine Winfield — joined hands in a circle with their coaches at midfield before their game, surrounded by dozens of children wearing jerseys.
“I have a son that’s in kindergarten. It choked me up because I would hate to be one of those parents,” Rams running back Steven Jackson said. “You drop your kid off at school and he or she wants to go there and learn and better themselves, and to then go to the school and find that your child will no longer be with you. I couldn’t imagine that thing.”
Flags were also at half-staff in Baltimore, where the scoreboards went black as the public address announcer asked the crowd at the game between the Ravens and Denver Broncos to observe “silent reflection” in the wake of Friday’s “horrific tragedy.”
A moment of silence was observed at all 14 NFL games on Sunday; in Houston and in Arlington, Texas, the scoreboard went black. Members of the Buffalo Bills and Seattle Seahawks stood quietly with their heads down on their sideline while fans stood silently at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.
The Bills did continue their pregame habit of playing U2’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” which they’ve played before every home game this season. The song is in reference to British troops shooting and killing unarmed protesters in Derry, Northern Ireland in January 1972.
In Chicago, Green Bay wide receiver Donald Driver retweeted the names of the victims. St. Louis defensive end Chris Long said after the 36-22 loss the Vikings that it was hard to feel sorry for himself.
“As we sit here and feel sorry for ourselves after losing a football game, it really helps put things in perspective,” he said. “I was watching TV last night and saw a victim’s parent and I was really moved by that, the strength that they were showing up there.”
