ESPN included the national anthem and moment of silence for Jimmy Carter and the victims of the New Orleans terror attacks, two days after igniting scandal over its Sugar Bowl coverage.
The broadcaster left fans furious on Jan. 2 when they left the tributes to New Orleans out of its coverage live from the city where the Sugar Bowl had been delayed by a day due to the New Year attack.
But on Saturday, it made no such mistake for its coverage of Cleveland Browns against Baltimore Ravens in the NFL.
The tribute at M&T Bank Stadium in Maryland was not only for the 14 people killed in New Orleans but also for former President Jimmy Carter, whose funeral was held in Atlanta on Saturday.
ESPN has been subjected to an angry backlash in the days that followed their coverage of Notre Dame’s win over Georgia in New Orleans, where the main channel missed the stirring tributes before kickoff with the city in mourning.
But fans watching on from home for Saturday’s Ravens game all had a similar response as the tributes were broadcast around the United States.
The tributes M&T Bank Stadium for New Orleans and Jimmy Carter were shown on ESPN
President Carter’s funeral was Saturday and 14 people died in the New Orleans terror attack
‘Wow! ESPN actually played The National Anthem over the air? Shocking,’ one viewer wrote on X.
Another said: ‘ABC/ ESPN are honoring President Carter and the tragedy in Now Orleans prior to the Ravens Browns game plus showing the singing of the national anthem. The deserved criticism had some impact.’
A different viewer posted: ‘Funny how abc/espn had time to play the National Anthem for this game but totally ignored it for the Sugar Bowl after a terrorist attack.’
14 people were killed and another 35 were injured on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans during New Year celebrations when Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. army veteran that had been radicalized by ISIS, carried out a terrorist attack.
The Notre Dame vs Georgia Sugar Bowl had been scheduled for New Year’s Day but the attack meant it was moved to the following afternoon.
Bot sets of teams, coaches, staff and fans – plus emotional New Orleans mayor Latoya Cantrell – stopped for a rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner as well as a moment of silence.
At the end of the national anthem, passionate chants of ‘U-S-A’ reverberated around Caesars Superdome from the fans in attendance.
A SWAT team, as well as bomb-sniffing dogs and their handlers, were out in force on Thursday around the Superdome in New Orleans for the game, where hundreds more police officers lined the surrounding streets before the college football blockbuster.
Police dogs were seen sniffing vehicles entering the stadium’s garage in addition to the personal belongings of anyone entering the stadium through the rigorous security checks.
New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick told NBC that the city had as many cops on duty for the delayed Sugar Bowl as it had planned for the Super Bowl, which the city will host on February 9.
‘We are staffing up at the same level, if not more so, than what we were preparing,’ she said before the game.
