LANDOVER, Md. -- Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, perhaps no stadium in the country has been under such tight security as FedEx Field. With state, local, federal and stadium enforcements on the ground, in the air and around places you never see, "You feel like you're in lockdown as soon as you walk up to the ticket taker," said fan Jeff Herman as he waited in line to get into the game.

	Police helicopters on the lookout for the serial sniper who has terrorized suburban Washington, D.C., patrol FedEx Field on Sunday.

In fact, so much police manpower was focused on the sniper manhunt that the visiting Saints didn't have their usual police escort from their hotel in Virginia to the stadium. On Route 110 South, near the Pentagon, where trucks and buses are prohibited, troopers pulled over the bus.

"I think the only [law enforcement] people not here is the National Guard," said a Maryland state trooper near the north entrance to the stadium.

Two low-flying police helicopters patrolled overhead and officers on bicycles roamed the parking lots. F-16s, with a bull's-eye firing distance of 50 miles, were high above the cloud cover.

An officer with the bomb squad stood watch near the area where fans step off from a mass transit shuttle; a band of security guards with walkie-talkies encircled the concourse of the outer stadium. Security checks to get inside remained slow, dreadful and meticulous. There was no getting into the game with a bag much larger than a binoculars case.

Perhaps the most distraught fans were the autograph seekers, who usually number two to three dozen at the players' entrance for each home game. Many Redskins and cheerleaders usually accommodate the hounds, but on this day, police discouraged the loitering. For the most part, the players rushed by the few fans who stood ground.

"A waste of time today," said one autograph collector, who said he arrived at 9:30 a.m. "I don't know what I was thinking; I should have expected no one would want to stay out in broad daylight and sign autographs."

Dennis Tuttle is a freelance writer in the Washington, D.C., area and an occasional contributor to ESPN.com