# NFL’s Week 1 9/11 tribute begins in Seattle with wild guitar solo during national anthem

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/nfls-week-1-9-11-tribute-begins-in-seattle-with-wild-guitar-solo-during-national-anthem/
- Published: 2026-09-10T05:12:23+00:00
- Updated: 2026-09-10T11:16:01+00:00
- Original publisher: Fox News (publisher lean: Far right)
- Original article: https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-sports/nfl-week-1-911-tribute-begins-seattle-wild-guitar-solo-national-anthem-performance
- Topics: Culture, Fashion, World

## Key points

- NFL held 9/11 25th-anniversary tributes across Week 1 games
- Seattle's opener featured moment of silence and unconventional anthem
- Pearl Jam's Mike McCready played improvised guitar solo anthem

## Summary

The NFL marked the 25th anniversary of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks throughout its Week 1 schedule, with the Seattle Seahawks' season opener against the New England Patriots – a rematch of Super Bowl LX – setting the tone. A pregame announcement at Lumen Field explicitly described the events as "terrorist attacks" and led the crowd in a moment of silence, with teams given latitude on how to shape their individual tributes before similar remembrances followed at games in Australia and across the rest of the league.

Seattle's tribute featured a joint sign-language and guitar rendition of the national anthem, with Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready opening in a Jimi Hendrix-inspired style before veering into an improvised, grunge-inflected solo, which NBC's Mike Tirico called "authentically Seattle" on air. The Seahawks also hosted first responders who had travelled from across the country to assist in the 9/11 recovery effort, with the ceremony closing on a military flyover as the 2026 regular season got under way.

## Coverage

- [Fox News: NFL’s Week 1 9/11 tribute begins in Seattle with wild guitar solo during national anthem](https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-sports/nfl-week-1-911-tribute-begins-seattle-wild-guitar-solo-national-anthem-performance)
- [Billboard: Mike McCready Rips Hendrix-Style National Anthem Ahead of Seattle NFL Game](https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/mike-mccready-hendrix-style-national-anthem-seattle-nfl-1236337185/)

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.