Throughout coverage of last week’s tragedies, reporters talked about how the devastation in two cities could take place anywhere in the United States.

For a handful of Ohio State football players, it did hit close to home.

Andrew Maxwell, a freshman walk-on from Brooklyn, N.Y., had to deal with last Tuesday’s events without hearing from his mother, Olga Thomas, for hours. Thomas works for the New York Division of Parole on the 61st floor of the World Trade Center.

Scheduled to be at work around 9 a.m., Thomas was running late at the best possible time.

“It was just a huge sense of relief to hear her voice,” Maxwell said on OSU’s official website. “She was trying to reach me all day but because of the phone problems in New York, she was unable to. She finally got a hold of me through (offensive tackle) Adrien Clarke’s cell phone on Tuesday night.”

Maxwell was not the only player close to the situation.

Shane Olivea, an OSU offensive lineman, grew up in Cedarhurst, N.Y. on Long Island, located one mile from Kennedy International Airport in Queens. His sister works in midtown Manhattan, three buildings from the Empire State Building.

“I heard it on the radio,” Olivea said. “I was shocked by what some people could do.”

Olivea struggled with the situation when talking to reporters on Thursday about the horrors on Tuesday.

“It’s like it’s not New York City anymore,” Olivea said. “Those buildings symbolize New York City. It’ll be real weird when I first touch down back there.”

While anger and mourning reigned throughout the country, OSU players came together in support of New Yorkers and teammates.

“We tried to joke with them and at the same time, talk with them, making sure their minds were fine,” linebacker Joe Cooper said.

“We just had to stay around them and make sure they’re all right and see if they need anything. Coach Jim Tressel stressed staying together.”

“I was very grateful,” Maxwell said. “I have a lot of friends who called up and asked how my mother is. And people here have been real supportive. It’s really a good thing.”

Tressel gave his team Tuesday, Sept. 11 off, but OSU players returned to practice the next day, even though the game with San Diego was canceled.

While thoughts were elsewhere, coming back and playing seemed to give the Buckeyes a sense of normalcy.

“It was hard to get focused,” quarterback Scott McMullen said.

“We spent an hour and a half listening to Dr. LeBeau (an OSU special intelligence expert) speak about terrorism. Then having to go out for a two-hour practice, it’s hard to get in that mindset.”

The focus for Ohio State now will now have to shift from the tragedies to Saturday’s game against UCLA. For players who are put on an elevated level and treated as heroes in the bubble that is Columbus, football suddenly seemed less important.

“It’s what we do,” tailback Jonathan Wells said. “But for those people, they could care less. They’re not gonna watch a football game, they’ll be with their family at home.”

While only a few players were actually connected to the attacks, the concern was universal.

It wasn’t just the New Yorkers who were effected.

“You see the 50 stars next to each other, united, and the stripes,” linebacker Matt Wilhelm said. “It represents more than just New York or Washington. It’s the entirety of the country.”

For the rest of the team, 500 miles never seemed so close.