September 23, 2001: The NFL returns to action, after postponing the previous weekend's games, due to the terrorist attacks on September 11. Both of the planes that hit the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York took off from Logan International Airport in Boston. As it worked out, the next game for the New York Jets and the Boston-area team, the New England Patriots, was against each other, at Foxboro Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Jets vs. Patriots was a rivalry that began in the American Football League in 1960. But, unlike such other New York vs. Boston matchups as Yankees vs. Red Sox, Knicks vs. Celtics and Rangers vs. Bruins, it wasn't that much of a rivalry until 1993, when the Patriots hired former Giants coach Bill Parcells, who then took his team back into the Meadowlands once a year to face the Jets. This included the 1996 season, when, with Drew Bledsoe at quarterback, the Patriots went on to win the AFC title, before losing the Super Bowl.
Then, in 1997, the Jets hired Parcells away, and that raised the rivalry more. He left, and in 2000, the Jets thought they'd hired former Parcells assistant Bill Belichick as head coach. He lasted one day, then quit to take the Patriots' job, infuriating Jet fans.
In this game, the Jets led, 10-3, with 3 minutes left in regulation, when Jet linebacker Mo Lewis knocked Bledsoe out of the game. At first, it was believed that Bledsoe had a concussion, serious enough to take him out, but nothing more. But he didn't seem right, and was sent to the hospital, where he was treated for internal bleeding. He almost died.
Bledsoe was replaced at quarterback by Tom Brady. Cliché Alert: The rest is history. The 10-3 score held, the Jets won, and the Pats fell to 0-2. Brady, a 6th-round draft choice out of the University of Michigan, became the starter, and went 5-3. Then he led the Pats to victory in their last 6 regular-season games, including a 17-16 win over the Jets at the Meadowlands, and overtime wins over San Diego ad Buffalo.
Then came the postseason. The Patriots beat the Oakland Raiders in the Divisional Round, in a snowstorm in what became known as "The Tuck Rule Game," in what turned out to be the last game in the 31-season history of Schaefer/Sullivan/Foxboro Stadium. What became Gillette Stadium, and the Patriot Place mall, were being built next-door.
Then came a win over the Steelers in Pittsburgh in the AFC Championship Game, when Brady got hurt, and Bledsoe was able to come back and be a part of the championship run. Then came Brady, and Adam Vinatieri's field goal, giving them an inspirational win over the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. The Patriots were a bunch of plucky underdogs that had captured the nation's admiration.
But, like most teams that unexpectedly start winning and keep going -- the 1970s Dallas Cowboys, and in the 1990s, the Atlanta Braves, the New York Yankees, the Duke basketball team, and English soccer team Manchester United -- people got sick of them once they were no longer plucky underdogs.
It led to Brady and the Patriots absolutely dominating the AFC Eastern Division, and the Jets in particular, ever since.
And it all started with Mo Lewis hitting Drew Bledsoe too hard. What if Lewis had missed that tackle? Bledsoe would have remained the starter. Maybe the Patriots win fewer games. Maybe it's the Steelers who play the Rams in that Super Bowl. Maybe, instead of 6 Super Bowls, the Patriots win none. Or maybe Bledsoe only lasts another couple of years, and Brady takes over from there, and the Patriots' dynasty is merely delayed, instead of prevented.
We'll never know.
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September 23, 2001 was a Sunday. The same day, a memorial service for the victims of the 9/11 attacks was held at Yankee Stadium in New York. I have a separate entry for this event.
These other NFL games were played that day:
* The New York Giants beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 13-3 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Carolina Panthers, 24-16 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
* The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Tennessee Titans, 13-6 at Alltel Stadium (now EverBank Stadium) in Jacksonville, Florida.
* The Miami Dolphins beat the Oakland Raiders, 18-15 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. Jay Fiedler scored on a quarterback sneak with 5 seconds to play, to win the game.
* The Cleveland Browns beat the Detroit Lions, 24-14 at Cleveland Browns Stadium (now Huntington Bank Field) in Cleveland.
* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Baltimore Ravens, 21-10 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.
* The Indianapolis Colts beat the Buffalo Bills, 42-26 at the RCA Dome (formerly the Hoosier Dome) in Indianapolis.
* The Chicago Bears beat the Minnesota Vikings, 17-10 at Soldier Field in Chicago.
* The San Diego Chargers beat the Dallas Cowboys, 32-21 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.
* The Denver Broncos beat the Arizona Cardinals, 38-17 at Sun Devil Stadium (now Mountain America Stadium) in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.
* The St. Louis Rams beat the San Francisco 49ers, 30-26 at 3Com Park (as Candlestick Park was then known) in San Francisco. The Rams-Niners rivalry had lost a lot since the Rams left Los Angeles, but it would eventually be restored.
* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Seattle Seahawks, 27-3 at Husky Stadium in Seattle. The Seahawks were playing at the University of Washington's complex while the Kingdome was being torn down, and what is now Lumen Field was built on the site.
* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Green Bay Packers beat the Washington Redskins, 37-0 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
* And the New Orleans Saints, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a bye week.
And these games were played in Major League Baseball:
* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-4 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. The Yankees scored 2 runs in the 8th inning, 1 in the 9th to send the game to extra innings, and 1 in the top of the 10th, when John Parrish walked Bernie Williams with the bases loaded, forcing Nick Johnson home. This made a winning pitcher out of Nick Johnson, in relief of Orlando "El Duque" Hernández.
Cal Ripken, in his last few days as an active player, hit what turned out to be the last home run of his career, his 407th. Johnson homered for the Yankees, going 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs. Derek Jeter got the day off, with Enrique Wilson playing shortstop.
* The New York Mets lost to the Atlanta Braves, 5-4 at Shea Stadium. Brian Jordan led off the top of the 11th inning with a home run, his 2nd homer of the game, making John Smoltz a winning pitcher in relief of Tom Glavine. Joe McEwing hit a home run for the Mets.
* The Colorado Rockies beat the Montreal Expos, 5-3 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 12-6 at Fenway Park in Boston.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Florida Marlins, 5-4 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Johnny Estrada hit a home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to win it. Travis Leed went 4-for-4 with 2 solo homers.
* The Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 1-0 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Joe Kennedy allowed 4 hits over 7 innings, and Esteban Yan finished the 5-hit shutout. Steve Cox hit a home run in the 1st inning, for the only run of the game.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 2-1 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. Rookie Albert Pujols went 0-for-4.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 10-2 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-3 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee. Ken Griffey Jr. went 2-for-3 with a walk.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-2 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
* The Texas Rangers beat the Anaheim Angels, 5-2 at The Ballpark in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.
* The Houston Astros beat the Chicago Cubs, 7-6 at Enron Field (now Daikin Park) in Houston.
* The San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres, 11-2 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium). Barry Bonds hit his 65th * and 66th * home runs of the season. Tony Gwynn, in his last few days as an active player, pinch-hit, and did not reach base.
* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 7-4 at the Network Associates Coliseum (as the Oakland Coliseum was then known). Mark Mulder won his 20th game of the season, outpitching Freddy García. Ichiro Suzuki went 1-for-5.
