#Time with Giants has given Joe Judge a ‘different perspective’ on 9/11

Joe Judge was in college at Mississippi State on September 11, 2001.

Nineteen years later, as the head coach of the Giants, Judge has gained a “different perspective,” he said Friday after spending part of the morning talking with his team and people in the building about the anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

“We talked to the team this morning, it’s not about what happened on 9/11, it’s about how the country responded,” Judge said on a Zoom call while wearing an FDNY cap. “That’s the lesson everyone has to take, how resilient this country is. You look at a lot of things going on around the country right now and how divided a lot of people seem, but it’s amazing how much this country can truly work together and respond when needed. Watching from afar, at the time I was down south, I was a thousand miles away, but you could watched the way the city of New York came together in this time of crisis. Now I’m looking across a river at a city right there where the tragedy happened.”

“You listen to the stories today about guys that were in the [Giants] building, the day that happened, you could see the smoke coming up from the city. It puts a much different perspective on it.”

Judge said said it was important not to forget the sacrifices made by first responders on that day. He also thought the way the country came together in the aftermath of the attacks could help again today at a time when the country is faced with a pandemic and racial and social unrest.

“It’s not just a day, there were actions taken on that day that brought this country close together,” Judge said. “I think if we focus more on how we can respond as a nation and work together, we can get past a lot of this crap we’re dealing with right now.”