TIM MORSE: Where is the togetherness we shared after Sept. 11, 2001 attacks?

Well, another Sept. 11 anniversary has come and gone. I didn’t watch much TV on Sunday, but I did see a few of the memorials and documentaries. The catastrophic events of that day by radical Islamic terrorists still move me. You aren’t human if those grisly images don’t bother you.

With the exception of the newbie generation, most of us still remember that day. Most of us remember what we were doing when those horrific events happened. I know I do.

I was a young reporter covering Georgia Tech athletics at The Augusta Chronicle. That morning, as I did most every Tuesday morning, I was headed to Atlanta to attend a press conference for Tech’s game against top-ranked Florida State.

That year, 2001, was supposed to be the year the Jackets dethroned the Seminoles and won the ACC title.

Halfway to Atlanta, I saw signs that Hartsfield-Jackson Airport was closed due to a national emergency. Keep in mind, this was pre-social media and smartphone days, so the only way I could find out what was going on was to turn on the radio. It was still early that morning, but one plane had already hit one of the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

After another plane hit the other tower, I arrived at Georgia Tech. We had the press conference for the Tech-FSU game, but the game, out of respect for the victims, was canceled that following Saturday, as were most sporting events. The Georgia High School Association voted to cancel all high school football games that weekend.

I remember what this nation was like for several days, weeks and months.

Since I lived in South Carolina at the time, the South Carolina High School League voted to play Friday night games that weekend. They believed, out of respect for the victims, playing the games would help the state take its mind off what had happened.

At North Augusta High School, the national anthem before the kickoff was never more patriotic. People prayed and held hands. It didn’t matter if you were Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, this nation was joined together.

We laughed together.

And we cried together.

Our national media, namely ESPN, continues to beat the Colin Kaepernick protest to death. On Sunday, on the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, there were even more NFL players protesting the national anthem by refusing to stand.

Call me clueless, call me crazy and maybe I just don’t get it. I know those guys have a right to their opinion. I’m entitled to mine, too, which is what you are reading in this column.

I have watched Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, our two presidential candidates, sling mud at each other to the point that I’m sick of it. I just don’t get that either.

But I have to ask this.

Where is the attitude we sports fans, figures and great Americans had during the few days after the Sept. 11 attacks? Political correctness didn’t matter. You cared about your fellow brothers and sisters.

Again, you held hands with those who didn’t look like you and didn’t act like you and you prayed with them.

Those NFL players are standing for what they believe is right.

I hated what happened on Sept. 11, 2001, and don’t want to ever have to witness what happened on that day again. But I do wish our attitude and reverence for this nation would return, like it did after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.