NFL kicks off season tonight

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.Y. -- This is no ordinary season opener for the NFL.

When the San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants meet in the Meadowlands tonight in an unprecedented weekday start to the season, it will be just part of a huge celebration honoring those who died Sept. 11.

Hours before the game, the festivities begin with a concert in Times Square.

"I think it's an honor that we're going to be opening like this and it's a celebration in New York," said Giants coach Jim Fassel, whose team practiced five miles away from the smoke-filled city in the weeks after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

"New York is a great city. The celebration prior to the start of the season gives New Yorkers something to enjoy. We can certainly all remember what happened a year ago. I think New York and the country has rebounded very well from it."

This will mark the first time the league has opened with a single weeknight game before the traditional Sunday start. Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said Wednesday that a Thursday night opener will probably become a fixture, with the games being played in major-market cities around the league.

This game features longtime rivals who in the 1980s and early '90s combined to win seven Super Bowls.

"We feel kind of privileged and honored to be in it, to be quite honest with you," San Francisco coach Steve Mariucci said.

Both teams come into the season after five-game preseasons.