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Janikowski plans to go for end zone
ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP)Oakland Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski(notes) is prettyconfident he'll be able to put the ball through the back of the end zone almostevery opportunity he gets now that the NFL has moved Official Reebok NFL Cincinnati Bengals Jersey the kickoff line up fiveyards. The league's runner-up in touchbacks in 2010 behind Baltimore's BillyCundiff(notes), Janikowski doesn't think the rule change will lead to a dramatic dip inreturns, however. That's something that's been a concern for players, coachesand fans since the move was announced in March.Jacoby nfl cheap Ford(notes), Janikowski's speedy teammate who had three kickoff returns fortouchdowns while splitting time at wide receiver as a rookie last year, isn'tconcerned either way. If anything, he sees the new rule benefiting returners asmuch as kickers.
Jets VP was Giuliani's press secretary during 9/11
NEW YORK (AP)NEW YORKMatt Higgins doesn't watch the 9/11 televisionspecials. Never has, and probably never will.The memories are all too clear for the Jets' executive vice president ofbusiness operations. At the time of the terrorist attacks, he was New York CityMayor Rudolph Giuliani's press secretary, and helping manage the crisis was partof his daily routine."There are a lot of images that, to this day, don't nfl make a lot of sense,"Higgins said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I don't think theyever will make any sense. They come back and then you put them back in theirplace until they come out again at this time of year." It has been nearly 10 Authentic Minnesota Vikings Jerseys years since that September morning, when Higgins andso many others lost friends and family official sports shop members. Having been there and livedthrough it all, Higgins has been working tirelessly to try to put together "anappropriate" night of commemorative events during the Jets' season openerSunday night against the Dallas Cowboys. The night will include a halftimeperformance by Five For Fighting's John Ondrasik, whose song "Superman (It'sNot Easy)" and its lyrics about heroes became an anthem for many during thattime."We all felt a tremendous responsibility," Higgins said. "We felt theneed to do justice to the occasion. I think that's our No. 1 priority. I think Ifeel that more than any other emotions right now, but it was, of course, just aterribly sad, sad day."Higgins was driving through the Midtown Tunnel on the morning of Sept. 11,2001, when the first plane hit the World Trade Center. After the second planestruck, Higgins pulled up to City Hall and tried to quickly organize a pressconference for Giuliani just a few blocks from the site.It wasn't long before Higgins and two other staff members realized they werein a dangerous spot. So, they dropped their equipment and headed back to CityHall."That's when the first tower collapsed," the 36-year-old Higgins recalled."We all met up at a fire stationthe mayor, fire commissioner and policecommissionerand I remember them being on the phone talking to the vicepresident talking about needing air cover in New York. No one had a full senseof what was going on at the time."Within a few hours, Higgins was setting up what became Giuliani's firstformal press conference at a nearby police academy. No one watching it knewwhere it was being held, and that was part of the plan."There was a clock tower Chicago Bears Jersey Authentic in the background and a non-descript wall,"Higgins said. "You're in the fog of war during that time period and you're notsure to what extent we were under attack."Once things became clearer, Higgins was there as Giuliani kept in touch withthe people of the city around the clock and tried to assure them that thegovernment was still up and working."It was all him," Higgins said. "He was really operating on instinct."A few days later, Higgins was working with the Secret Service and WhiteHouse staff to plan President George W. Bush's visit Authentic Vikings Jersey to the site. At one point,he realized he was walking by the spot he had originally started to set upGiuliani's press conference and wondered if any equipment had made it."About a couple of hundred feet away, I saw this black box," Higgins said."Sure enough, it was our mote box, covered with debris and crushed, but Iturned it on, and it still worked. I couldn't believe it."He brought it back with him to the police academy that night and huddledeveryone together to check it out. Higgins kept the box with him for five years,and it's now part of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum."It's pretty amazing, really," he said.A big part of Higgins' job in the weeks following the attacks was arrangingfor foreign leaders and representativessuch as Russia's Vladimir Putin andMexico's Felipe Calderonto visit the World Trade Center site."Almost every day, we were pulling in by boat and seeing the site again,"Higgins said. "The magnitude of the tragedy is almost incomprehensible evenwhen you try to recall it now. I went to the site with presidents from all overthe world, but I spent a lot of that time in a haze."Not to mention the fact Higgins was in his second-to-last semester at theFordham University School of Law. He finished up, though, by somehow balancingtragedy and textbooks.Giuliani's office was directly affected by the nfl from china attacks. His top aide, BethHatton, lost her husband Terry, who was a captain for the FDNY's Rescue Company1. Higgins soon went to work for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation,the agency charged with rebuilding the site and met many family members ofvictims during his two years there. He even considers some of them friends now,such as Paula Grant Berry, a mother of three whose husband, David, died thatday."That time was just so painful for so many people," Higgins said.In 2004, Higgins was hired by Jets owner Woody Johnson as vice president ofstrategic and promoted to his current position three years later. The two hadmet in passing three years earlier, when Higgins and Giuliani were at the Jets'first game after the attacks."He's a natural leader," said Johnson, a board member for the 911 MemorialFoundation. "He processes information well and is willing to take anyinformation, any intel, and synthesize that in a coherent Official way. And, believe me,I know that was tough to do back then."Higgins faced a personal crisis in April 2007, when he was diagnosed withtesticular cancer. He faced it head on and beat it, and having to deal with somany difficult moments years earlier helped him get through it."I got to have more time," Higgins said. "All of us who survived theattacks have more time, so I'm grateful to have more time. So many people weredenied these momentsall of this timethat I've had over these last 10years. I think about those people who are dealing with those emotions on thatday, and I'm hoping they feel we mark this anniversary appropriately."
