The National Football League took a position of leadership in our nation Thursday with its decision not to play this weekend's games. I applaud the NFL and NFL Players Association head Gene Upshaw for doing the right thing.

The Giants Stadium parking lot is being used as a rescue staging area. And the Giants' indoor practice bubble was being contemplated as a place to bring the deceased from the World Trade Center. Meanwhile, the Giants were supposed to play a home game Sunday. What would they do, tell everyone to move from the parking lot? It was one of the elements the league had to consider.

	“	The NFL has sent a message of respect to the victims, the rescue workers and those who are trapped, saying their lives are important and that football pales by comparison to the consequences of Tuesday's attacks. ”

Tagliabue also had to consider former commissioner Pete Rozelle's biggest regret, allowing the games to go on only two days after John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963. It's pleasing to know that the NFL made a judgment without President Bush asking them to call off the games.

Some people feel playing the games wouldn't affect the rescue efforts. But what about respect? The NFL has sent a message of respect to the victims, the rescue workers and those who are trapped, saying their lives are important and that football pales by comparison to the consequences of Tuesday's attacks.

Sure, others say football would be a diversion from the tragedies. They think the games should be played to take our minds off what happened and to not give the terrorists the upper hand. But maybe this is a time that, instead of watching football on TV or at the stadiums, a father turns to a son, or a wife turns to a husband, or a mother to a daughter, and lets them know how important and wonderful they are, something perhaps some parents and children have never done. Maybe it's time for the nation to stand up, look around and appreciate the people in our lives instead of taking them for granted.

We need to put the importance of life into perspective, and that's what the NFL has done. Football will go on, and I still expect the NFL to have a great season.

While the league has yet to decide what to do about the schedule, the simplest and most logical solution would be postpone the Week 2 games and play them during wild-card weekend. That would eliminate the wild-card round, meaning only three division winners and one wild-card team in each conference, but the NFL would still be able to play a 16-game season. With only a one-week break between the conference championships and the Super Bowl, that would make the most sense.

No matter what happens with the schedule, I'm proud to be associated with the NFL today.

Former Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann is an NFL analyst on ESPN Sunday Night Football.