On Sunday, nearly all NFL players are 100% focused on the game at hand. But that wasn’t the case for Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone.
That’s because Anzalone’s parents are among the 53 people from First Naples Church in Naples, Florida, who are part of a church group currently trapped in Israel due to Hamas’ massive terrorist attack on the country.
“It’s hard,” Anzalone told The Detroit News after the Lions 42-24 victory over the Panthers. “(It’s) really all I’ve been thinking about.”
Alex Anzalone #34 of the Detroit Lions lines up during at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on September 7, 2023, in Kansas City, Missouri. (Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
Anzalone posted a plea to President Biden on X to help bring his parents home safely.
“My parents are in this group. Please get my parents home… @POTUS,” Anzalone wrote in a caption to a video featuring Florida GOP Rep. Byron Donalds.
@marcorubio @GovRonDeSantis @SenRickScott
— Alex Anzalone (@AlexAnzalone34) October 9, 2023
The church members are currently staying at a hotel in Jerusalem.
“We are doing good at our hotel in Jerusalem,” Pastor Alan Brumback wrote on Facebook. “Continue to pray for Israel and for this to be resolved as peacefully and quickly as possible. We are trusting in the Lord, and we know that God’s got this.”
A missile explodes in Gaza City during an Israeli air strike on October 8, 2023. Israel, reeling from the deadliest attack on its territory in half a century, formally declared war on Hamas Sunday as the conflict’s death toll surged close to 1,000 after the Palestinian militant group launched a massive surprise assault from Gaza. (MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images)
Hundreds of Israelis were killed this weekend after a surprise attack by large numbers of Hamas terrorists who attacked military bases and civilians in their homes. Israel responded by formally declaring war, something they had not done since the Yom Kippur War of 1973. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to destroy Hamas entirely.