Sept. 11 is a day that not only shocked the world, but also sent tremors of fear and unity through out the sports world. The NCAA, along with every professional sports league, canceled games as air traffic came to a standstill.The Sam Houston State Bearkats had to fly to Chicago for their next game against Northern Illinois. Offensive line coach Ben Norton remembers the added security at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport. “The security was definitely at a slower pace than it had been.” Norton said. “I had just flown that summer up to Michigan and basically walked right through everything, and now the lines were longer and there were a lot more security guards.”Norton said that most everyone was more concerned with what had just happened than the fear of flying.Many athletes came out with a new outlook on life and slowly came to realize that life itself was more important than sports. New York Jets quarterback Vinny Testaverde was one of the out spoken professional athletes during the tragedy. The National Football Leagues was one of the last leagues to cancel games, and this upset many players. Senior offensive lineman Jason Carr recalls what offensive coordinator James Ferguson told them before the game against Northern Illinois. “He said that life is more important now than what is was before,” Carr said. “All we are guaranteed is today because we don’t know if there is a tomorrow.”Senior transfer quarterback Vance Smith was part of a Texas A&M team last year that organized a Standing for America rally in which students and fans wore red, white and blue shirts to show support. “The fans came out in their red, white and blue. It was really neat.” Smith said. “We came together as a country and a state to show our support for the people in New York.”Luke Huard, a senior transfer, was fairly close to New York and Pennsylvania because he played quarterback at the University of North Carolina last season. Huard had a close friend whose father worked in the Pentagon. “I was trying to find that friend all day,” Huard said. “When I found him, he had a big smile on his face and I knew everything was all right.”One of Huard’s teammates lost some family members.” It didn’t seem like reality,” Huard said. “To see it affect people directly, and to see it hit home, was unbelievable.”The sports world has been greatly affected by the Sept. 11 tragedy that stopped time and made athletes realize that life is something not to be taken lightly. Many Americans have tried to put it behind them, but people in New York and Pennsylvania are reminded of it daily.