Like everyone else, the Giants knew their lives would never be the same after the World Trade Center was attacked Tuesday morning.
Yesterday they got their first taste of the fear that’s now part of everyday reality.
The Giants were evacuated twice from their indoor practice facility next to Giants Stadium when fire alarms went off two separate times 30 minutes apart. There was a burning odor following the first alarm that soon went away. The alarm was triggered by a short in one of the ducts in the bubble, but there was no fire.
Still, it was enough to rattle most players. They left the field both times quickly but without panic.
“We’re all very edgy,” said defensive end Frank Ferrara. “All of us just felt we had to get out of there. At that point, who knows what it could be?”
That was the attitude of many players, who were shaken even before the brief scare.
Some players were hesitant to go back into the bubble and vacated it even faster the second time. The alarm has gone off in the past, but naturally, this time was different.
“Before, we would have played right through it,” said Sam Garnes, a Bronx native who said he didn’t know anyone immediately affected by the Trade Center tragedy.
“At worst, we would have thought it was just smoke or a fire. Now, you never know. It could be terrorists attacking us again.”
Although this time it was a false alarm, few felt relaxed.
“Even when I’m in my office and hear a loud noise, you wonder,” head coach Jim Fassel said. “I think that’s the way it is for everyone in the country.”
Said Garnes: “This could last the rest of our lives. This is how it could be. This is how our lives have changed.”
Garnes wasn’t alone.
“Coach [Fassel] explained what it was,” Lomas Brown said. “You don’t take things for granted anymore. We didn’t know what to think. We realized it couldn’t be a fire since it was raining. So your first thought is to just leave the building. You have to take precautions. If we were in Detroit, maybe we wouldn’t think that way. But we’re here.”
And yesterday, counselors were there, as well. Fassel said he brought them in to talk to the team as a whole and then to anyone who needed more.
With tomorrow’s home opener against the Packers called off, Fassel also gave the team the weekend off before getting back on schedule on Monday.
“I think it will be good to talk about our feelings,” Garnes said. “You don’t know if you’re repressing anything until you start talking about it.”
The coach learned on Thursday night that he went to high school with Chick Burlingame, the pilot whose plane crashed into the Pentagon.
“I knew who he was, but we didn’t keep in touch,” Fassel said.
“Things are going to go on for a while now,” Fassel said. “Hopefully, not on our land. We’re going to have to move through our season this way.”
At least one player insisted he wasn’t overly concerned for his personal safety.
“Some guys were, but not me,” Jason Sehorn said. “Everybody reacts differently. I feel safe now.”