The NFL schedule resumes with 26 teams today, and that generates great excitement in the world of pro football.

As time and the calendar would have it, today is also the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks that killed about 3,000 Americans.

This is not written as a political rant of any kind, but just to perhaps remind us to take a moment in thinking about all those victims and their families.

The victims of these attacks were not soldiers, who sign up to defend their country and know the inherent risks.

They were primarily just working citizens like most of us were, just going to work on just another Tuesday, perhaps after having stayed up late to watch the Broncos win the first Monday Night Football game of the season, 31-20 over the New York Giants to open what is now Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

It was one of those moments that anyone old enough to remember it also remembers pretty much where they were and what they were doing when it all happened. It is one of those things that is etched into your mind and that can never leave.

Most of us in Denver were getting ready for or already on our way to work.

Then-Broncos wide receiver Ed McCaffrey was in the hospital for surgery after sustaining an injury in the Monday night game.

The NFL Films crew that had been shooting the game in Denver was on its way back to the Films headquarters in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, but had to make the last leg of the trip by car.

Arizona Cardinals owner Bill Bidwill, unable to get a commercial flight back to Phoenix from the Cardinals' road game, bought a new car and drove to his Arizona home.

My daughter had just moved back to Denver from New York City and Wall Street, and we all watched as chaos developed directly next to what had been her subway stop.

She lost friends that day, young people with their lives and careers in front of them, some of whom we had met at various gatherings.

And what can you say about the firefighters and police officers who did not run away from the disaster, but rather righty into it to help others? Really, this is not something everyone would do and it is why the all have a special place in our hearts.

The monument is a fitting tribute. It is elegant and beautiful, in my opinion.

But I hope the greatest monument resides in our minds, and I just wanted to take this moment to pay tribute to the victims and their families today.