Friday Football Profile: New Orleans Saints
Part of a continuing series designed to help you learn more about the Steelers' upcoming opponents. In the words of Michael Corleone, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."Remember the movie The Usual Suspects? The ending was great: Chazz Palmintieri as the detective, standing in his office trying to figure out who the mysterious Keyser Soze is, when, all of a sudden, the pieces start falling into place. As he realizes it’s a gimpy Kevin Spacey, we see the club-footed Spacey hobbling down the street, gradually straightening out his leg, and finally walking normally. It’s a shocker; Spacey’s not who we thought he was all along.
This also describes the 2006 Chocolate City Saints, who are just full of surprises. They managed to straighten out their club foot and have shocked everybody by earning a mid-season, first place record of 6 and 2. And in the wide receiver position, you’ll find their Keyser Soze.While fans and pundits have been making non-stop, sweet, verbal man-love to rookie running back Reggie Bush, rookie wide receiver Marques Colston (a 7th round, 252nd overall draft pick) has quietly shambled his way into Rookie of the Year contention. Hopefully, whichever un-demoted Steelers cornerback is covering him on Sunday will figure this out before Colston has left Heinz Field and climbed into a cab.
Another player to be wary of, of course, is the Saints' QB, Drew Brees. Despite having a name that sounds like it belongs to the manager of a Pier 1, Brees was honored as last week’s NFC Offensive Player of the Week. The good news for the Steelers is that Brees may lose focus on the game, distracted by thoughts of his psychotic mother, whom he recently threatened to sue for using his image in a political ad. If there’s a God, Joey Porter will be wearing a microphone and will try to find a way to incorporate this into his trash talking. 
And finally, there’s the Saints’ veteran wide receiver, Joe Horn, who was thrust into the national spotlight a few years ago for a touchdown celebration that had him pulling a cell phone out of the goal post padding to mime a celebratory phone call to his mom. Needless to say, the crotchety old white guys in suits that run the NFL were none too happy and Horn had to cancel the following week’s TD celebration, in which he planned to wheel a small computer desk and chair out into the end zone and then pantomime writing a celebratory e-mail to his cousin June Bug, on his father’s side.
Enjoy the game and sorry if I ruined the movie for you.
(You really should have seen it by now.)
posted by J.T. | Friday, November 10, 2006
6 Comments:
Love my Saints!They have helped this city more than ANYTHING that has happened in the last year. They are doing this for us and we LOVE them for it.
They really have been impressive and fun to watch. Hard not to root for them, doctorj2u. So you're from New Orleans?
I lived in the city itself (Uptown) for the first 30 years of my life. I now live on the northshore of Lake Ponchatrain (40 minutes outside the city). If you want to discuss the Saints, the place to go is www.saintsreport.com. And I meant what I said, the Saints this year have really helped us more than anything. They have been a source of joy in a year that has been very hard and full of frustration and disappointment. The players and the coach understand this. I just read this quote from Sean Payton in the Chicago Sun Times:
''You can tell ... the importance this team has'' to people in the area, Payton said. ''You can see it in their eyes at the end of games, just in the end zone when I have a chance to say thanks. ... It's powerful. And when you get into this thing as a coach and a player, this opportunity and what's taken place, is rare.'' I am SO PROUD of them!
J.T., I forgot to add that the Steelers are getting a lot of respect here. Archie Manning said the other night that they are by far the best team that the Saints have met this year. He said turnovers in the red zone has been the reason their record is not better. We know this will be a very hard game for us, but we have to have faith. Bless You Boys! LOL!
I'm glad to hear that the Saints are helping to bring some good feelings back to New Orleans; if anyone deserves it, it's you guys.
You could feel the electricity watching that first game back in the Super Dome... I was glad to see them run away with it that night.
And thanks for the kind words about the Steelers- it's been a tough season and I don't know HOW we're favored going into this game. The Saints are looking good... should be a fun one...
Hang in there. If anybody knows the feeling of seeing your team having a bad year, it is us. LOL! The Monday Night Football game was one of the most beautiful, emotional days of my life. There was no hype in the commentary. It was the truth. New Orleans and her citizens have a symbiotic realtionship. We feed off one another. The city actually feeds our soul and we feed hers. (I know this sounds odd to outsiders but it is the truth.) For over a year we didn't know if our community would make it or not. The government wouldn't listen to our pleas for flood protection. We were in mortal danger for the entire hurricane season because the levees were not fixed and politicians felt it was more important to protect their parties instead of helping tax paying Americans. (Yes, I am bitter.) The day of the game was beautiful. Clear blue skies, but more importantly, it was cool for the first time. Not only did that raise our spirits but it also meant the worst of hurricane season was over. OUR CITY WAS SAFE!!! We had another year to fortify the levees. We all met down by the Superdome and enjoyed our love for the city and each other. It felt like New Orleans again! It was a celebration. We WILL make it! Our Saints were HOME. WE WERE HOME. And then the game began and you know how that went. Words cannot describe it. I watch this game at least once a week to recapture the feeling. The Saints can lose every remaining game this season and I can't be sad for the gift they gave us that day. Of course, it makes it all the better if they keep on fighting and winning! Good luck in your remaining games.
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