Cowboys will visit Ground Zero before playing Giants

The Dallas Cowboys will head to the New York City area earlier than usual this week, leaving on Friday instead of the customary Saturday.

They are doing so to visit Ground Zero and the One World Trade Center observatory, which opened this year.

It is the idea of head coach Jason Garrett, who was a Giants backup quarterback in 2001 when the World Trade Center was attacked on 9/11 and had an up-close look at the immediate response to the tradgedy.

“The response from everybody in that area and really all across our country, and to a certain extent across the world, to that tragedy was really amazing — the response to that terrible adversity,” Garrett said. “It’s captured there. It’s captured there by the memorial, and similarly it’s captured by the building, the One World Observatory at the Freedom Tower.”

Garrett visited the observatory with his wife during the offseason and was moved by the experience. He was inspired, and wants his team to have a similar experience.