Giants’ coach Joe Judge marks anniversary of 9/11 by talking about lessons of resilience

New York Giants coach Joe Judge showed both his knowledge of history and his understanding of the community in which he coaches on Friday, showing up to his daily videoconference wearing an FDNY hat — an obvious reference to the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

“This is always a significant day in American history. We talked to the team this morning about how it’s not about what happened to the country on 9/11, it’s about how the country responded. I think that’s the lesson everyone has to take of how resilient this country is,” Judge said.

“You look at a lot of things that are going on right now across the country, how divided a lot of people seem, but it’s amazing how much this country can truly work together and respond when needed.”

Judge was a player for Mississippi State in 2001.

“You watch the way the city of New York came together in this time of crisis and now I’m looking across a river at a city exactly where the tragedy happened. You listen to the stories today of guys who were in the building, how they could see the smoke coming up from the city and it puts a much different perspective on it,” Judge said.

“Today’s a day we need to have appreciation for what everybody does. We can’t forget what happened on 9/11, we can’t forget the people who were willing to respond, the Todd Beamers of the world and the action they took on the flight and the action they took to bring down the third plane and save more American lives,” Judge said.

The coach also said remembering the lessons of 9/11 could help us navigate the current tensions that have divided the country.

“It’s significant. It’s not just a day, there were actions taken on that day that brought this country close together,” Judge said. “I think if we can focus more on how we can respond as a nation and work together we can get past a lot of this crap we’re dealing with right now.”