Once NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell mentioned the devastating tornadoes that left a path of death and destruction across the Southeast, the horde of heckling fans fell silent.
Joined on stage by Auburn star Cam Newton, Alabama standout Mark Ingram and their college coaches, Goodell began the NFL draft Thursday night by asking for a moment of silence to remember the storm victims.
A crowd at Radio City Music Hall in New York that had been booing Goodell because of the lockout and chanting “We want football!” quickly became quiet.
At least 297 people were killed in six states and hundreds more were injured.
“I’ve challenged our players to get out and do something to help these people,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “Be a team.”
In Tuscaloosa, Ala., where the University of Alabama campus is located, 36 were killed and 800 were hurt. Among the injured was Crimson Tide longsnapper Carson Tinker – a school spokesman said Tinker was hospitalized in stable condition, without detailing what happened to him.
In Abdingdon, Va., NASCAR Nationwide series driver Eric McClure and his family felt fortunate to be alive. A tornado did extensive damage to their three-story home Wednesday night in the southwest Virginia community.
“It was terrifying,” McClure told The Associated Press by telephone. “I’ll be honest with you. It was probably the scariest few seconds of our lives.”
The storm hit minutes after the McClures returned from church. McClure, his wife and three daughters – the oldest is 4 – spent about four hours huddled under a basement staircase.
“We all got out of it without any injuries and so did our immediate family, but we’re really heartbroken for the people that didn’t,” he said. “It’s just a house. They make one of those every day. We can always get another house or build one or move or rent. There’s so many options there, but you can’t replace kids.”
At the Penn Relays, a junior middle distance runner on the Tennessee women’s track and field team reflected on the damage. Ramzee Fondren said her teammates, whose flight to Philadelphia was delayed, were monitoring events at school via Facebook and Twitter.
“We’re hearing from back home that there’s a lot of hail,” Fondren said. “People’s windows and their cars are really looking terrible. It really hit the campus area.
“It affected them really bad. They even had to hide out for a while the storm was going on,” she said. “Some people don’t even have insurance, so it’s really unfortunate for them.”
The tornadoes postponed the Auburn football team’s trip to the White House and meeting with President Barack Obama. The national champions were supposed to enjoy the festivities Friday. Instead, Obama was set to travel to Alabama to assess the damage.
Alabama defensive lineman Marcell Dareus, a Birmingham native, joined Goodell on the stage for the moment of silence. Dareus was the third player picked overall at the draft, taken by Buffalo.
Dareus said he and his former teammates have already started talking about what they might be able to do to help the recovery effort in their home state.
“It hit Birmingham pretty hard, my brothers and sisters were shook up, but nothing really happened with my family,” he said. “I thank God for that.”
Gene Stallings, who coached Alabama to the 1992 national title, was near the campus Thursday.
In a parking lot along mostly demolished 15th Street, Stallings stood over a grill and prepared hamburgers for emergency workers. Stallings, who now lives in Texas, was in Tuscaloosa for a golf tournament that had been canceled because of the storms.
“It just didn’t feel right to play golf,” Stallings said. “Since I was in town, I just wanted to help out how I could. I’m just out trying to make life a little bit better.”
Meanwhile, Bryant-Denny Stadium was turned into a makeshift emergency management center. The city’s regular facility was destroyed by the tornado.
New York Yankees pitcher David Robertson and Detroit Tigers catcher Alex Avila both played at Alabama. Robertson grew up just a few miles from where the tornado tore a destructive path, knocking out places where he used to hang out in Tuscaloosa.
“This one hit in the middle of town. You know places like businesses, houses all around there,” Robertson said. “It’s really sad because I haven’t been down there since, so I don’t know how bad the damage is but I didn’t recognize anything when I watched the videos.”
Avila found out shortly before the Tigers played Seattle on Thursday that his friends were safe.
“I finally got a hold of one of my best friends – a guy that I had known since high school and who was in my wedding – about 10 minutes before the game today, and he told me that all our friends were OK,” Avila said. “He works for the Alabama baseball team, and he said the area of Tuscaloosa where we lived has just been destroyed. I saw a lot of the footage this morning, and it was … it looks like a war zone. That’s hard to watch.”
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