Where the Towers Stood, Testaverde Finds Strength

New York Jet quarterback Vinny Testaverde took a trip to Manhattan last Saturday and visited the site where the World Trade Center towers once stood. Before leaving, he picked up two pieces of rubble--a shard of glass and a small chunk of concrete--and displayed them in his locker all week.

He said he will keep them as reminders of the people he met, the horror we all saw, and the reality that there are no guarantees in life.

The New York skyline holds special memories for Testaverde, whose late father, Al, a cement mason, worked on some of the city’s tallest buildings, among them the twin towers.

“As a young kid, I remember going on some of his jobs,” Testaverde said. “Actually, more memorable was going down to see the Thanksgiving Day parade. He did a building that was still being worked on, and we used to sit up there and watch the parade from one of the skyscrapers. I used to work with him during summers in high school and college, work with him on some of those skyscrapers down there.”

Now, like millions of American parents, Testaverde is struggling to explain to his children--Vincent Jr., 5, and Alicia, 10--what happened.

“My son doesn’t fully understand what’s going on,” he said. “Although the other day we were driving over to my mother’s house and we saw a plane in the sky, and he said, ‘Look, Mommy, the plane’s going to crash into a building.’ So it affects him a little bit. But he doesn’t understand the magnitude of it all.

“My daughter, on the other hand, is a fifth grader and they’ve been talking about it in school. She comes home and asks a lot of questions. As a matter of fact, [Tuesday] night she woke me up at 3 o’clock in the morning. She had a bad dream about it. As a parent, you just have to help her understand things, understand the world, understand people.”

It would be so much easier, of course, if he himself understood.

Close to Home

Former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason has been to Ground Zero, and now he’s spending his days at what he calls Ground Zero 2--the funerals of friends killed in the attack.

“I’ve cried and cried and cried,” said Esiason, who lost his best friend and has been to four memorial services this week. He knows people who have been to 10.

Esiason’s cystic fibrosis foundation was on the 101st floor of the World Trade Center’s north tower, the building hit by the first airplane. He knew more than 100 people--one was his best friend, Timmy O’Brien--who worked at Cantor Fitzgerald, the brokerage that lost almost everyone.

Esiason, who does radio commentary for Monday night football games, was in Denver at the time of the attack. He tried every way he could to get back to New York, and finally was able to charter a turboprop plane two days later.

The foundation’s five full-time employees were out of the office when the plane struck, and escaped harm.

On His Own

Arizona running back Michael Pittman was separated from his wife and children during the attack and, for a full day, had no way to reach them.

“That whole day, I was thinking of my wife, my son, my parents, praying they were going to be OK,” he said.

Lest Pittman’s story evoke too much sympathy, understand this: He was serving a short sentence in the Tempe city jail as part of a domestic-violence plea bargain.

Tight Squeeze

Pasadena is on the short list of alternative sites for the Super Bowl if the New Orleans option falls through. But what about the Coliseum?

Well, the place is available, but the main problem is that there isn’t enough room outside the stadium to accommodate the event’s acres of sponsor tents.

Road Warriors

Instead of flying to Cleveland to play the Browns on Sunday, Detroit players will travel via bus. The decision was based more on convenience than safety.

“We just don’t know what the procedure would be, entering and exiting the airport,” Coach Marty Mornhinweg said. “I just don’t want to get bumped back two hours, take two hours to get into the air. Heck, the bus can beat the plane anyway. It’s an hour ride from here to the airport alone, and it’s a 31/2-hour drive to Cleveland.”

Question is, will the Lions get superstitious if they win, and stay ground bound? That would be a problem; they play at San Francisco next week.

“Absolutely,” Mornhinweg said with a laugh. “We’ll get some practice on the side of the road.”