New Orleans Saints Review

As our beloved SUPER BOWL CHAMPS begin their quest to repeat (or TWO DAT, as dey say), here are five questions I have about the Saints:

1. How will Patrick Ramsey pick up this offense? Ramsey was finally signed to a one year deal to back up Drew Brees.  The concern I have is that your backup QB is just a hit away from entering a game.  Ramsey is going to need to pick up this offense fairly quickly.  He’s been around the block, so maybe he’s used to such things.  He will get plenty of playing time in the preseason to try and figure things out.  Let’s just hope that he doesn’t need to play in a meaningful game anytime soon.

2. Who will take the starting defensive end job opposite Will Smith? It looked like former Chicago Bear Alex Brown had the inside track of replacing Charles Grant after the Saints released Bobby McCray.  But the Saints have brought McCray back into the fold and it will make for one of the more interesting battles in training camp.  Jeff Charleston & Jimmy Wilkerson are also in the mix.

3. How do you replace Scott Fujita? Fujita’s leadership and solid play are now in Cleveland.  The Saints are hoping former Jaguar Clint Ingram can make an impact.  If not, either Jo-Lonn Dunbar or Troy Evans will get a shot.

4. How long will Patrick Robinson hold out? The Saints’ first round pick out of Florida State needs to get into camp – if only because his position of cornerback is crowded.  If he wants to make an impact this season, he would be well advised to get in asap.  But, who knows, he may sign before this post hits the internet!

5. What’s the attitude? This is, of course, the question a lot of people have about the Saints in 2010.  Will they be hungry for a repeat, or are they still riding the wave of all that good will and celebration that has occurred since their Super Bowl victory?

Are you attending Saints training camp?  Want to share your observations or photos of the team?  E-mail me at nosreview@gmail.com and you might see your comments on the site!

To hear that USC is pretty much disassociating itself from Reggie Bush is sad.  Talk to just about any player, not just big name guys like Bush, and you’ll find out just how much love they have for their alma mater.  So, to hear that they’re giving back their copy of your Heisman Trophy and taking down pictures of you, it’s just got to hurt.

That’s not to say that Reggie Bush and USC shouldn’t be punished if there indeed were rule violations (Bush still denies the charges).  But for USC to somehow pretend Bush never electrified fans and made the school tons of money, well that’s another thing altogether.

There’s a lot of talk about how fair or unfair the NCAA rules are regarding athletes being compensated.  Personally, I think the whole system that big time college sports operates under is ridiculous.  Schools throw themselves at athletes, hand them scholarships, treat them like gods, and then act surprised and unknowing when an athlete takes a gift from a booster or agent.

These are supposed to be academic institutions.  Yes, I understand that a guy like Reggie Bush doesn’t attend USC to learn microbiology.  He, like many others, want to pursue a career in athletics.  Even so, the actions of these institutions are unbecoming to say the least.

Whether your want to blame Reggie Bush, former USC coach Pete Carroll, the school or some combination of the three, the bottom line is that this system has got to change.  Of course, with the billions upon billions of dollars major college sports rakes in, I’ll have to concede that there probably isn’t much reason for the NCAA to do so.

Since going corporate is one of the things our culture seems to do best, maybe the NCAA should just go the other way on this.  Stop hiding under the disguise of an organization that cares about purity of sport and academics and just let it become a huge free-for-all.

It could save us all a debate and it could save a generally good guy like Reggie Bush the shame of being treated like a criminal.  He certainly can’t be the only USC football player who has ever taken an inappropriate gift – he’s just the one who got caught.

Do you remember the 1999 Saints?  It was Mike Ditka’s last year coaching the team, and it was a total disaster.  After “da coach” was fired. the Saints brought in a young head coach named Jim Haslett to bring some fire to this lackluster squad.  The team was essentially rebuilt from the ground up that offseason in an effort to change the culture of a loser.

One of the first moves Haslett and his regime made was to bring in a little-known receiver out of Kansas City named Joe Horn.  The Saints signed Horn to a fairly lucrative deal, considering he had just 2 starts during a 4 season stint with the Chiefs.  Heck, the guy hadn’t even played college ball.

But, if you’d seen Horn in a Chiefs uniform, you knew why the Saints were eager to get him on their side.  Although he didn’t touch the ball a lot in KC, good things always seemed to happen when he got an opportunity to make a play.

During that 2000 season, Horn was one of the true leaders of a team that went from worst-to-first.  He led the way with 94 catches (only 59 more than his previous career high), 1,340 yards and 8 touchdowns.  He went on to amass 523 catches, 7,662 yards and 50 touchdowns in his Saints carer.

But Joe Horn was so much more than just numbers.  He was brash, he loved to talk and usually backed it up with his spectacular play.

The thing that separated Horn from the other prima donna receivers around the league was that, unlike T.O. or Chad Johnson/Ochocinco, we could all relate to Joe Horn.

As I mentioned above, Horn never played college ball.  He bounced around in places like the CFL trying to fulfill his dream.  To make ends meet, he worked in restaurants and factories.  He worked his tail off to get an opportunity with the Chiefs.  Even then, it wasn’t as if the team put him out on the field all that much.

So, when he got his chance in New Orleans, he squeezed every last drop out of it.  His antics were almost always entertaining, but when that ball was snapped, Joe Horn was all business.  Even the most casual of fans could see the intensity in the way he played the game.

And, when Hurricane Katrina hit, Joe was front and center.  He visited displaced residents and truly cared about their well being.  In his final chapter with the team, he was there for the resurrection of the city and the franchise.  He was there to help Sean Payton, Drew Brees and company take the Saints to their first ever NFC Championship Game.

So, it was great to see that the Saints signed Horn to a contract so that he could retire as a Saint.  This fall, he’ll enter the team’s hall of fame as arguably the greatest receiver the franchise has ever known.

Congratulations on a brilliant career, Joe, and thank you for giving it all on the field and in the community.