There are people who can legally buy beer in this country who have never known a world in which NFL games have not been regularly used as vehicles for ham-handed 9/11 remembrances. Every flyover and giant American flag that gets unfurled has its origins in the sickly patriotism of post-9/11 America, and the connection only becomes more overstated in the years when NFL games happen to fall on the date itself. This has been going on for so long that there's now an unmistakable weariness to the whole performance. Just ask ESPN's Chris Berman:
It's been 21 years (more than a quarter of Berman's life!) and networks have yet to figure out that there's no way to jam a few solemn words about 9/11 into a highlight segment, particularly one that is literally designed to be spit out as fast as humanly possible, without sounding flip or disinterested.
Let Chris Berman rest! He's been doing this too long to still be forced into saying, "9/11, Jets at home, never forget, 21 year, nobody can forget the attack..." and then using every ounce of self-control to prevent himself from blurting out... but Baltimore's air attack was one to remember on this day!
