|
Saints Set to Head Back to NOLA
by Doug Miller, NewOrleansSaints.com
Friday, September 05, 2008 - 2:45 PM
The New Orleans Saints will land early this evening at Louis Armstrong International Airport in Kenner. The arrival will mark the return of the Saints to the city, and region, that they proudly represent. It also marked the return home for the team following six days in Indianapolis.
The Saints evacuated to Indiana last Saturday evening and quickly set up meetings rooms and tried to make life as normal as possible throughout the week. The team, like many other people in the lower Gulf South region, was forced to evacuate as Hurricane Gustav threatened and eventually made landfall in Louisiana.
The Saints, under the leadership of Owners Tom Benson and Rita Benson LeBlanc, Executive Vice President/GM Mickey Loomis, CFO Dennis Lauscha. Operations Director James Nagaoka and Head Coach Sean Payton set out to make life for the Saints a “business-as-usual” environment. By all accounts, the goal of a great week of preparation was met. "It was a great team effort on everyone's part," said Loomis. "Everyone went right to work and the professional approach from the entire traveling party was very encouraging."
The team was headquartered at a downtown hotel that was seemingly there at every turn for the club, and the team practiced on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in the brand new Lucas Oil Field. The brand new stadium, according to Payton, “is in my opinion the nicest stadium in the NFL.”
The Saints were the recipients of short bus rides to and from the stadium each day; something Payton originally said was an important factor in the team’s decision in selecting Indianapolis. While at the hotel the team had an entire floor that was occupied by meeting rooms and the necessary media equipment for film study in classroom settings. The different front office departments that accompanied the team also had adequate office space and were able to serve the football operations staff with the normal amount of support that the team is accustomed to having at their training facility.
But the Saints, at the end of the day, were thrilled at the imminent prospect of arriving back home. The team, according to Payton, had an outstanding week of preparation for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Payton mentioned on more than one occasion that he was pleased with the professional approach the team had throughout the week and in trying circumstances.
“I was pleased with the week of work,” Payton said. ‘It went without a hitch and we all pulled together and focused on what we had to do to get ready to play a very good football team on Sunday.”
Tom Benson echoed the sentiments, stating, “We are thrilled to be back home and we can’t wait to see a full Superdome crowd on Sunday. The 2008 regular season is se to begin and we are very anxious to get in front of our great fans and open the season in our home.”
Quarterback Drew Brees said the week of relative isolation in Indianapolis really served as an extension of training camp, and that the relatively short amounts of free time the players had at their disposal were used by most players to watch increased installments of film.
“It brought the team closer together, I feel,” said Brees. “You always to look for positive situations when there is adversity. And I feel like our team was a close-knit unit before, but we got even closer this week and we had a great week of practice. Of course it’s great to be home, but our focus is on Sunday at noon and there is still more work to be done.”
Notes: The Saints submitted their final injury report today. Only one player has been ruled out, that being DT Hollis Thomas (triceps). The following players have all been listed as questionable: RB Deuce McAllister (knee), CB Mike McKenzie (knee), RB Aaron Stecker (hamstring), LB Troy Evans (ankle), DT Brian Young (foot) and LB Mark Simoneau (knee).
|