Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell saw the devastation caused by the California wildfires.
O'Connell, 39, grew up on the West Coast and played college football at San Diego State.
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He also spent years with the Rams as offensive coordinator in Los Angeles, a city ravaged by wildfires.
“Southern California is near and dear to my heart,” O'Connell told selected British journalists this week.
“I have a lot of connections from the Los Angeles Rams and from growing up there.
“There are some of my friends who lost their homes.
“Having lived through that, there were a few times in my early childhood that there were some pretty big fires in my town.
“My senior year at San Diego State, a game was postponed 10 days and maybe even two weeks due to fires.
“For many people who watch the news and watch the clips, it's hard to imagine.
“But for people in Southern California, this is something they've seen before and it's a tragedy.”
“My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected.”
O'Connell was preparing the Vikings for a playoff trip to Los Angeles to face the Rams on Monday night.
This game was moved by the NFL to Glendale, Arizona due to fires.
At least 11 people died and more than 150,000 were evacuated due to fires in Los Angeles.
“As I told our team, we are going to get on a plane and then play a football match, where will the plane land?
“The phrase ‘you can play these games anywhere, anytime’ was validated this week, and that's the mentality your team needs to have.”
Minnesota last week missed out on securing the top seed in the NFC playoffs with a 31-9 defeat to the Detroit Lions.
NFL Wild Card Weekend Schedule
Saturday 11 January:
- No. 5 Los Angeles Chargers at No. 4 Houston Texans, 4:30 p.m. ET (CBS, Paramount+)
- No. 6 Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 3 Baltimore Ravens, 8:00 PM ET (Prime Video)
Sunday 12 January:
- No. 7 Denver Broncos at No. 2 Buffalo Bills, 1:00 PM ET (CBS, Paramount+)
- No. 7 Green Bay Packers at No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles, 4:30 p.m. ET (Fox, Fox Deportes)
- No. 6 Washington Commanders at No. 3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 8:00 PM ET (NBC, Peacock, Universo)
Monday 13 January:
- No. 5 Minnesota Vikings at No. 4 Los Angeles Rams, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN, ABC)
They instead finished as the fifth seed, meaning they likely face three games on the road to reach the Super Bowl.
This is despite 14 wins, which is tied for third in the entire league.
“We all know the rules when we head to training camp,” O'Connell said.
“We didn't win our division. We had the opportunity to do it and we couldn't do it.
“We landed around 4.30/4.45am local time after Detroit, and I was still getting the guys a few hours later.
We will get on a plane and then play a football match, where the plane will land
Kevin O'Connell talks about moving the Vikings/Rams game from Los Angeles to Arizona
“We have a 24-hour rule in place where we process and acknowledge the truth of what happened.
“We used that Monday to put things in perspective and I ended the day with a team meeting.
“We've talked about being 1-0 every week from training camp until now, so there's nothing that we haven't already created or accomplished more than what I'm asking our guys to be like we've been all season.
“We are in the championship and we have a 60-minute chance to continue our season.”
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