The NFL is turning Week 1 of the 2026 season into a league-wide remembrance for the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001, with tributes planned across games, broadcasts and community efforts.
Commissioner Roger Goodell announced the plans Wednesday and pointed to the unity and resilience that followed the attacks. “We continue to honor the memory of those we lost on September 11,” Goodell said.
The anniversary falls during the opening week of the season, and the league said every Week 1 game will include special recognition for victims, survivors, first responders and military families. Stadiums will feature “Never Forget” end-zone stencils and other remembrance messaging, while officials will use special 9/11 tribute coins for the opening toss. Those coins will later be auctioned, with the money going to charitable partners tied to September 11.
Broadcasts will also carry remembrance segments, and all 1 p.m. ET games will include live national anthem coverage. Teams are expected to take part in community service activities throughout the week as part of the league’s broader tribute.
One of the most visible moments will come on Sunday Night Football, when the New York Giants host the Dallas Cowboys. Players, coaches and staff from both teams will wear commemorative NYPD, FDNY and PAPD hats, and both clubs will also put on special “Never Forget” shirts during pregame warmups. The Giants will sell team-branded versions of the hats, with proceeds going to the respective agencies.
The NFL Foundation will also support military families connected to September 11 through its partnership with TAPS. And the league’s commemoration won’t stop in the United States: the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers will play the NFL’s first regular-season game in Australia on September 10, and that matchup will include pregame ceremonies honoring September 11 with American and Australian military participation.
The league is also lining up an NFL Films presentation focused on three people whose lives became connected through September 11 and Super Bowl LIX. The documentary is set to premiere September 9 on FS1 before later appearing on the NFL Films YouTube channel.
The NFL has marked September 11 in the past, but the 2026 plans are being built on a much bigger scale because of the milestone anniversary. Twenty-five years later, the league is using its biggest stage to remember those who were lost.
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