Prior to kickoff in the Detroit Lions’ 2026 season opener at Ford Field, the team will honor about 30 local Detroit first responders, 16 of whom personally took time out of their lives to travel to New York 25 years ago to lend a helping hand in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
When Lions coach Dan Campbell stepped to his press conference on Friday, the 25th anniversary of 9/11, he was sporting a Detroit Fire Department hat as a nod to their service.
Campbell has a personal connection to the 9/11 aftermath. At the time, Campbell was in just his third year of the NFL, all as a member of the New York Giants. Campbell was among several members of the Giants and Jets who traveled to Ground Zero to offer any sort of help they could.
“It’s something you never forget, being up there. You get the worst of humanity, and you get the best all in a matter of minutes,” Campbell said. “One of the most inspiring things that you could ever witness, be around, is in the middle of a tragedy—especially in New York, where people, man, they’re in a hurry. It’s about getting to one spot to another, and you’ve got places to go, things to do, and that happens. And man, everybody just pitches in to help. They just want to help and do whatever it takes.”
At the time, Campbell remembers feeling helpless to provide any true physical help. But he has since realized the impact his presence had on the people who were sacrificing everything to make a difference.
“I didn’t understand that. We just wanted to help. We could do nothing, compared to what they were doing,” Campbell said of the first responders on scene. “Those guys didn’t sleep. Those first responders, man, there was no sleep, there were no showers, there was no food, there was no…
“And the fact that we were able to go when we go, just to help where we could—we were just trying to, ‘What can we grab? What can we do?’ And they just wanted us—us being there meant a lot to them, and I just remember thinking how humbling that was. Like, ‘We’re not doing anything.’ But it did; I think it gave them a little pep, and it’s a reminder that you may not think it can be powerful, but just your presence and being around there and letting them know you’re thinking about them and you just want to help them help others. It goes a long way.”
That’s why it was important for Campbell to honor not just the 16 first responders that traveled hundreds of miles that week, but all first responders that sacrifice so much for the health and safety of others.
“It’s significant, man. It’s unselfishness, and it’s just wanting to help. All you have is yourself, and you’re going to give up your time,” Campbell said. “I mean, you dig through that rubble. It’s not like that was some safe place to go out there and do what you do. So yeah, it means a lot. You start talking about these first responders, fire department, police department, certainly everybody that deals with healthcare at that time, just trying to do what they can.”
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