Matt Marriott -Tampa Bay Buccaneers) Raymond James Stadium
At 8:24am this morning, The Tampa Bay Buccaneers tweeted their plans for a moment of silence ahead of their game against The New England Patriots:
The notion of the 65,890 seat stadium completely silent and filled with cell phone lights is a haunting and powerful mental image, and it will be become a reality tonight.
In the wake of the violent tragedy in Las Vegas that claimed 59 souls and wounded more than 500, tributes and demonstrations of solidarity have sprung up across the country, and in Las Vegas too, from a defiantly raucous country music concert in Vegas, to Celine Dion’s heartfelt tribute before one of her shows.
The University of Neveda, Las Vegas will be wearing special helmets as tribute for their game this weekend:
Here is the special helmet @unlvfootball will wear Saturday in tribute to the victims and in honor of the heroes from Sunday. #VegasStrong
The Buccaneers’ opponent tonight, The New England Patriots, are also no stranger to emotional tributes in the wake of tragedy. Following the Sandy Hook Massacre in 2012, The Patriots sent up special white flares commemorating the victims. They were also closely – and famously – associated with a swell of American patriotism in the wake of 9/11.
The tribute is planned prior to kick off, which is at at 8:25pm EST on CBS and Twitch.TV. After weeks of controversy and protests, for a brief, bright, silent moment, sports will yet again become a rallying point for unity, solidarity, humanity and emotional charity.