New York Giants players Eli Manning and Osi Umenyiora are lending a hand to the American Red Cross, which is aiding the recovery efforts along the East Coast in the wake of superstorm Sandy.
Both Giants filmed a public service announcement for the Red Cross soliciting donations ahead of Sunday's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in East Rutherford, N.J., which was hit particularly hard.
Speaking at a Habitat for Humanity event in Baltimore, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said he had spoken to government officials during the week and to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday about moving or postponing the game, but was assured that going ahead with the game was OK.
"The first thing was we wanted to make sure we weren't doing anything to compromise public safety or we weren't going to do anything to divert the important resources to the rescue effort," Goodell told NFL Network's Jeff Darlington. "But the governor felt that was not the case. We have been working with officials all week and felt that we should go on with the game, that it was important recognition that life continues to move forward and that we would do it with the right recognition towards the victims and the people that risk their lives to help people.
"Tomorrow, we'll be celebrating our first-responders, and those are the people who risk their lives to help us, and to help the victims and help their families. We feel it's not only appropriate to recognize them but to support them, so we've done a donation and will continue to ask for donations during the broadcast from our fans, our employees and everyone else."
Visit NFL.com/Community to learn how to donate and volunteer to the recovery.
