Superstorm Sandy first responders Geovanny Buitron, right, and Steve Shore, left, talk to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell before a football game between the New York Giants and the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Superstorm Sandy first responders Geovanny Buitron, right, and Steve Shore, left, talk to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell before a football game between the New York Giants and the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Fans tailgate before an NFL football game between the New York Giants and the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
A donation bucket for people suffering from the affects Superstorm Sandy and cystic fibrosis sits on a table near the tailgating area before an NFL football game between the New York Giants and the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Fans look at sports memorabilia available in a silent auction held to raise money for people suffering the affects of Superstorm Sandy and cystic fibrosis before an NFL football game between the New York Giants and the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Fans look at items in a silent auction being held to raise money for people suffering from the affects of Superstorm Sandy and cystic fibrosis before an NFL football game between the New York Giants and the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) ? Courtney Davis has no idea what her house looks like because her town of Sea Bright was washed away by Superstorm Sandy.
Yet she was at the Meadowlands on Sunday for Steelers-Giants.
"We need this," Davis said. "We could really use this game and having a good time."
Davis and many other fans tailgating outside MetLife Stadium said they were thankful NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell did not postpone the game or order it moved to Pittsburgh. And Goodell stopped by to do some tailgating himself, then meet on the field and congratulate first responders, calling them "heroes."
Asked about concerns for playing the game, Goodell said:
"I sure didn't hear that here. I didn't hear it out in the parking lot. In fact, exactly the opposite of that ... 'we want to be able to get away from what we have been dealing with all week for a while' and a couple of guys said, 'This re-energized us. We're ready to go back.'
"That's a nice sense."
Davis described a beach town that looked more like the desert, with sand dunes piled 8 feet high and bulldozers trying to level them "just like you see in a blizzard."
"Debris everywhere," she added. "We have no idea when we can go back."
Earlier in the week, seeing Steelers-Giants didn't enter her thoughts. But as the weekend began, she decided the Meadowlands was the right place to be.
So while the parking lots filled up and smoke rose from barbecues, people who lost power but not resolve found their way to a football game. And to each other.
"I think there's a sense of release, to take your mind off it," said Tara Brewster of Staten Island, the New York City borough devastated by the hurricane and its aftermath. "If they changed this game to another day, I really wouldn't have been upset, but everyone is coming together. New York is the kind of city that handles everything."
"The water was coming in waves," Turbek recalled about a canal overflowing near his home. "We probably lost all our appliances, and my chimney fell in, too."
Turbek never considered missing the game. His brother was a big Steelers fan, so Turbek wore a Steelers cap and said he was "here because Steven would have come. It's good to get back into a routine."
He waited 75 minutes for gas to make sure he could get to the Meadowlands and then home, a distance of 45 miles each way.
Ryan Plaza was not impacted by the storm in his hometown of Sugarloaf, Pa., but he brought 15 gallons of gas to his cousin in New Jersey, then headed to the stadium. Standing nearby was Roger Daly of Norwood, N.J., who has had season tickets since the Giants played in Yankee Stadium; they moved to New Jersey in 1976. His search for gas led him to the U.S. Military Academy, and then even farther north.
"I'm retired from the National Guard and went to West Point for gas, but they ran out," he said. "So I kept going up the thruway and happened to find gas. I made a 60-mile trip each way to get gas."
He was glad to be at the stadium, believing it delivers some sort of a message.
"We're Americans and we can handle anything," Daly said. "I feel bad for everyone who got wiped out, but we have to live our lives like we always did. I still don't have telephone, Internet, but I'm here and this is a good release."
As Kathleen Marzolla described the scene in Hoboken, N.J., which is on the Hudson River and was among the hardest hit places in the state, she got a text message that made her jump for joy. Literally.
"We've got power back. We've got power," she said as her brother, Kevin, pumped his fist.
Hoboken was a ghost town for portions of the week, with water everywhere, she said. Her friend's car was submerged in the overflow, and all the businesses in town were closed for much of the week. But on Sunday afternoon, she finally could smile again.
"We needed this today," she said.
Steelers fans seem to pop up at every road game the team plays and this one was no exception, despite the challenges. Shawn Morrow and Wayne Alling drove in from Pittsburgh, although they believed the game might get pushed back to Monday night. They were stunned by what they saw, Morrow describing areas they drove past in New Jersey as "a war zone."
"Huge trees uprooted, 50 people or more standing in line at a gas station with gas cans; no cars, but the cans," Morrow said.
"We didn't know about the rationing," Alling added. "We have an odd number (license plate) and we weren't sure if we could gas."
They did, and they were enjoying some barbecue in the parking lot, surrounded by thousands of others who found their way to the Meadowlands.
One of those people plunked a pumpkin on a car hood. On it, in black magic marker, was written "We Will Survive."
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AP Sports Writer Tom Canavan and freelancer Jim Hague contributed to this story.
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