This picture hold a little importance for me and many others because I have been a rugby player and coach for the last 16 years.
Around the time of the attacks on the World Trade Center I was between jobs and really between homes. I had moved back to Galveston, Texas, from Oregon and was sleeping on a buddy's couch. That buddy happened to be a fellow prop--the tight head; I played loose.
Anyway, I was sleeping that morning when I got a call from another guy off the team--also a prop--who happened to work at the same place as the friend I was staying with. Incidentally, their immediate supervisor had also played prop for the same team we all played with.
The big boss was a friend that I happened to go to school with in New York at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy that was now working in Galveston. We both knew several people that worked in the WTC towers and had been to them before ourselves.
Luckily, our friends were out of the office that day, but with cell service down it took quite a while to learn they were okay.
But I digress...
So I was sleeping on my buddy's coach when one of the other guys from his office called and asked what I was doing. I responded with a tired and slightly hung over "sleeping."
I was a little surprised when he asked why; he had been out with us the night before. I was more surprised when he asked if I was watching the news.
Not only because he had just woken me up, but this dude knew me. News was the last thing I was going to watch first thing in the morning.
He kept barking at me so I turned on the TV and saw what had been going on while I slept. Like many people that day I couldn't stop watching the coverage even though I wanted nothing more than to stop seeing it.
But it was one of those things that even if you were not watching it you still saw it.
Later that morning I received a plane ticket to New Orleans for a job interview that was obviously going to be cancelled (it was later rescheduled; I didn't get the job but they bought me an awesome lunch).
As the days unfolded following the tragedy of that day we learned about the rugby player, Mark Bingham, that was a part of the brave folks on Flight 93 that decided it was better to stop the bad guys and die themselves rather than risk thousands being killed.
It was with a small amount of pride that we all listened to that story. As players ourselves we know what it takes to be a rugby player. You have to be fearless, intense, a never say die competitor that does not know the meaning of quit. You don't see tough foes; you see fun challenges.
Shortly after planes started flying again my buddy and his supervisor had a business trip that required them to fly. They decided to represent not only their team, but the game and wore their rugby jerseys on that flight.
When they got back they said that someone stopped them on the flight and said they were glad to have a couple of rugby players on board.
A popular rugby outfitter sold stickers to raise funds for a 9/11 charity. They read: Terrorist Beware. Rugby Player on Board. It doesn't look so good anymore, but I still have mine on my truck.
That day is one that people will never forget, and one that everyone will have a story or two about. This is just one of the many that I have. Seeing that picture on FB just reminded me of it.
God bless the men and women that died in the attacks that day, the first responders that run into danger,and the ones that continue to fight so that we can all be free to live however we chose to live.
Thank you for your sacrifice and don't worry--we will never forget.
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