‘They’re Playing Life Or Death’: New York Giants Honor 13 Members Of The Military Killed In Afghanistan

The past weeks’ tragic events in Afghanistan put life into perspective. All the petty disagreements we have here in “The States” pale in comparison to what’s happening in other areas of the world. 

On Thursday, 13 American service members were killed in a suicide bombing outside of the Kabul airport as our military attempt to evacuate Americans trying to leave Afghanistan. It’s a sobering reminder that our members of the military put themselves in harm’s way while protecting all of us at home. 

On Sunday, the New York Giants played the New England Patriots in their third and final preseason game. Head coach Joe Judge and several of the Giants players wore hats in support of the U.S. military, paying tribute to the 13 soldiers who lost their lives last week.

Salute to service 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/MNFMiMPSzq

— New York Giants (@Giants) August 29, 2021

“Obviously we lost 13 soldiers this past week in Afghanistan,” Judge said after the game when asked about the meaning of the hats. “I get pictures all the time of people wearing Giants hats, people wearing Giants T-shirts, letters from all over — soldiers overseas — letting us know, ‘Hey, we’re overseas, but we’re rooting for you.’ It’s great that they’re rooting for our team, I think it’s more important we all acknowledge we’re on the same team and that we’re supporting them as well. So we appreciate everything they do, we want to see them all come home safely, and obviously we don’t want to see anyone lose their lives needlessly.” 

“So I’d say in terms of wearing the hats, I thought it was a good opportunity to just go ahead and draw some awareness that there were 11 Marines that lost their lives this week. One Naval, one Army as well,” Judge continued. “We had all three services represented at the coin toss with the captains going out there. Our team, we stay very in tune to the first responders, the military, the people that really make what we do — which is coach and play a game — possible.” 

As we prepare for the start of the NFL season, Judge reminded everyone that football is simply a game, unlike the job that our military does on a daily basis. 

“I think it’s important to keep that in perspective that, look, the reality is, it’s serious to us because it’s serious business, right? That’s what it is. It’s a production business, we’re paid very handsomely to go out there and do a job as a player or a coach, but at the end of the day it is a game, it’s entertainment, right? That’s what it is. Now, they’re playing life or death. It’s important that we keep in perspective what we do and that we stay very grateful and we acknowledge what they’re doing on a daily basis so that we can go out there and do this professionally and be involved with the game.”

The 13 soldiers that lost their lives were Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David Espinoza, Sgt. Nicole Gee, Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss, Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosario, Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto Sanchez, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, Navy Hospital Corpsman Max Soviak, and Marine Corps Cpl. Daegan William-Tyeler Page.

Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to [email protected].

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