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N.Y. state of mind Jets S Green: 'All the games should be canceled'
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) -- The New York Jets don't want to travel to Oakland for their weekend game with the Raiders in the aftermath of terrorist attacks. Almost to a man, Jets players said Wednesday they believe the NFL should cancel or postpone this weekend's games. "I don't understand why we're here today," Testaverde said. "I think all the games should be canceled this week. "It's unconscionable to think this could happen. We're all speechless on what happened, but we'll try to get through it and try to help people who suffered losses and have been hurt." Testaverde echoed the sentiments of many teammates about traveling cross-country on Friday for Sunday's game against the Raiders. "The last thing we want to do is get on a plane and go to California for a game when all four of those planes that were hijacked were going to California," he said. "My suggestion is if they want to play these games, each owner has to travel with his team to the game. "Even if everything goes accordingly, by the time we get off the plane we will all be shot from the stress and nerves of not knowing ... we'll be exhausted getting off that plane. I don't think anyone wants to play." The Jets made their sentiments clear to NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw. Player rep Kevin Mawae spoke with Upshaw on Wednesday. "It's not hard to read the team," Mawae said. "Everything we've talked about in here is not the Raiders. It's 'Who saw what?' 'Who did it?' That's the main focus. "They've already canceled college football and pushed back the start of the golf tournament and maybe they won't play that. Baseball's called off games. For us to be the only league playing? I don't know." Without knowing if the NFL would make a decision on Wednesday, the Jets conducted a full practice. But it hardly was a focused one. "It's a lot to have on your mind," safety Victor Green said. "We have to prepare like we'll have to play, so for two or 2 1/2 hours on the field you try to forget about it and focus on what you have to do. "I think everybody feels the same way, that it will be canceled. We'll all try to find a way to play and be professionals, but all the games should be canceled, across the board." Head coach Herman Edwards wanted to have the players give blood, but the team's doctors said the recuperation period for playing football would be too long. Edwards said the Jets plan to do something for the families of victims at some point. Asked if the nation needed something such as football to help in the healing process, Edwards said, "I think sports can [be a relief], but then this is not like a plane fell out of the sky. This is a little different, more devastating to me than Pearl Harbor. "These people attacked us, it wasn't an accident. It was thought out and they did it. There are going to be thousands of people that are going to be dead. "What everyone has to think about in America is you need some closure. Is it over? No one probably knows. ... Everyone is hoping it is over and everyone is safe. But I don't know if anyone can answer that. "That is where you get into the point where we have to move on, but where is that point. When is it time for this country to heal?"
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