• Pregame activities will be highlighted by the appearance of the Junior Saintsations. This ensemble of over 400 girls, ages six to 16, will showcase their performance skills by demonstrating dance and cheer techniques taught at Saintsations clinics earlier this month.

NATIONAL ANTHEM

TIONE JOHNSON

• Tione Johnson is a fourth grader at the Martin Luther King Charter School for Science & Technology in the Lower Ninth Ward. She is a Principal’s Honor Roll student who began singing at the age of 5 and has been singing ever since. She has performed for many events including the N.O. Hornets playoff game #5 and the N.O. Voodoo. She also had a featured role in the cast of “Annie” at Le Petit Theatre last spring. Some of her biggest moments came when she appeared on the “Ellen Degeneres Show” in Los Angeles and Las Vegas (Caesar’s Palace). Tione can be seen on her website tionej.com and also at youtube.com

• Friday Night's  halftime show will feature exhibition play by the Youth Impact Program.
• For the second year, the New Orleans Saints coordinated with Tulane University and the Devlin S-AFE Center (Student-Athletics for Education) Center for Leadership and Development to kick off former NFL player Riki Ellison’s Youth Impact Program. This four-week summer camp that takes place on the Tulane campus, through the support of the New Orleans Saints, brings underprivileged youth boys (ages of nine through 12) together with student-athletes as part of an innovative program focusing on academics, life skills and athletics. 
• The program is designed to help with issues that face middle school students in inner-city public schools through academic support, guidance counseling, character development, and social interaction activities. The program provides academics, mentorship, character development and nutrition for the middle school students. Students will also go through extensive football training, taught by leading NCAA and NFL coaches. 
• While at camp, students attended academic sessions in the mornings and early afternoons, and football sessions took place in the afternoons. Monday - Thursday consisted of this regular schedule, while Fridays will be open for workshops, guest speakers, field trips, and other fun activities.