It has been 17 years since 9-11, and I came to the realization recently that, for many of the rugby players I write about, this event isn't something they remember—or at least something they remember well.

Even with those I work with on a regular basis, the shocking events of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and another potential attack on Washington DC that was foiled, aren't things they are old enough to remember as adults. 

I think back to the revolution in Iran and the hostage crisis in 1979 and 1980. It was something I knew about, but going to school and thinking about kid things, it wasn't something that resonated with me every day, or much as I grew older.

So if you're young and you hear "September 11, 2001" and you nod gravely without really thinking about it, the terrorist attacks in 2001 meant something greater than what it was, and it was a shattering something to begin with.

I am writing this on a rugby news site because rugby was integrally involved in this attack. Two former rugby players who were on Flight 93 were — as far as we know — the passengers who revolted against the hijackers, stormed the cockpit, and prevented any further loss of life (although all on the plane perished as the plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania).

Two? That's right. Mark Bingham was a former Cal player who helped found the San Francisco Fog. He was the more prominent one and certainly was part of the passenger uprising. He's famous. They made a film about him. He's a hero.

Jeremy Glick is less well-known in the rugby community, in part, because he didn't play rugby for a long time. He was a teammate of mine at the University of Rochester, but not for long as I was injured soon after he joined. I remember him as a very brave and aggressive athlete and a good guy, but I don't remember him well. He's a hero, too.

Cantor Fitzgerald was a financial company that was essentially devastated as one of the attacking planes crashed into the World Trade Center. That company employed several rugby players, as the financial sector remains an excellent profession for smart young go-getters who want time available in the afternoon to train for rugby. They were just at the office doing their jobs.

Sean Lugano was a former All-American from Loyola (and Xavier High School) who worked for another financial company. He was an excellent rugby talent. He died, along with dozens of other rugby players working in New York.

Many of them were cops and firefighters. The Fire Department of New York is full of rugby players today. The unit in Rockaway is pretty much a rugby club. The guys who raised the flag above were rugby players.

That's why I am writing about this on a rugby site. Rugby players were in the middle of it, and many, many others volunteered to serve in the armed forces overseas following this tragedy. It's a rugby story.

And, I hope, it's not a forgotten story. 

It's true that 9-11 can be used to further an agenda one way or the other, but what doesn't change is that it happened, and it happened because sometimes there are people who want to hurt us as a nation, not because we've really done anything (or failed to do anything), but because they want to inflict pain. 

They succeeded 17 years ago, and our reaction was to come together, to be proud of our nation, and our flag, and each other. Seventeen years ago rugby players were thought of as heroes, and flight attendants would brag when a rugby team was on an airplane.

'Nothing to fear tonight everyone, we've got 30 rugby players to protect us.'

I want you to feel all of that again. If you're too young to remember, try to tap into that outrage a little. Those bastards attacked thousands of regular people just minding their own business. They killed men and women of all faiths and dozens of nationalities. 

They did it here, at our home.  

Regular people, regular rugby players, normal men and women in the police department or the fire departments — the people who went up the stairs so that others could run down and to safety — were wiped out by anger, rage, callousness, and, yes, a lack of true vigilance. And, after that, we held hands and were grateful for each other. 

I guess I hope for that moment of gratitude once more.