Rescue Workers Provide Inspiration for Win

Inspired by a visit to heroic rescue workers, the New York Giants went out and won a game for them and the rest of their devastated city.

In front of fans who hung banners that said “KC loves NY” and cheered them as they took the field, the Giants beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 13-3, Sunday in the teams’ first game since the terrorist attacks.

“We just wanted to make New York proud,” Giant Coach Jim Fassel said.

In a visit last week to thedevastation, the Giants were stunned that they seemed to lend strength to exhausted workers in their round-the-clock search for survivors at the World Trade Center.

The workers, in turn, gave the team strength.

“To have those guys hug you and break down on you and actually say, ‘Guys, we need you to play this Sunday. We need you to divert our attention from what is going on here in the city ... “‘ said wide receiver Joe Jurevicius, his voice trailing off.

“If that doesn’t motivate you, I don’t know what will.”

Linebacker Mike Barrow kept thinking about his visits with the widows of firefighters.

“They would look you in the eye and tell you, ‘My husband was a season ticket-holder,”’ Barrow said.

“If Notre Dame can win one for the Gipper, we can win one for our fans who were lost.”

Morten Anderson kicked two field goals, Ron Dayne scored on a tackle-busting seven-yard run, and Kerry Collins led a clock-eating drive in the final seven minutes to seal the victory.

“We had a lot of different reasons for wanting to win that game, but the most important was that it was going to brighten a lot of people’s lives back in New York,” Fassel said.

Shortly after a moving pregame ceremony in which Kansas City’s mayor proclaimed it New York Day and fans cheered the Giants as they jogged out of the tunnel, Anderson kicked a 42-yard field goal. That gave the defending NFC champions a lead they would never give up.

The Chiefs, who take pride in having one of the NFL’s toughest home crowds, were not bothered to hear cheers for the Giants (1-1).

“They deserved that applause,” fullback Tony Richardson said of the Giant players. “It was in their back yard. They actually saw it. They’ve been down to the site. Some of these people were their neighbors, their friends.”

The crowd finally became energized for the Chiefs (0-2) when Todd Peterson’s field goal made it 13-3 midway through the third.

At the same time, the Giants appeared to go flat.

But Peterson’s 49-yard attempt with 7:21 left was short, and Collins made sure Kansas City would not touch the ball again.

“The team was ready to play,” said Fassel. “I felt we came out and played with a definite sense of emotion.

“All the questions there were this week about emotions being too high, or too low were answered this afternoon. I thought they handled everything real well.”