Joe Horn may have made New Orleans Saints history — third all-time in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns for the franchise — but lately his Sundays are a balance of allegiances.

Horn's son, Jaycee, is a cornerback who was a first-round pick by Carolina, New Orleans' NFC South Division rival, in 2021 "Any time the Saints are playing and they're not playing the Panthers, I'm rooting for my Saints. But when they're playing the Panthers, I'm rooting for my child," Horn said "And I'm quite sure every fan in New Orleans would feel the same way."

Undoubtedly they would, and the love still would remain for the former Saints reciever, who caught 523 passes for 7,622 yards and 50 touchdowns in 102 games for the Saints from 2000-06. Those standout numbers earned Horn a spot in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame this year.

The 12-member Class of 2026 will be inducted this weekend in Natchitoches, with events scheduled to take place from Thursday through Saturday.

"Hollywood" Horn, who attended high school in North Carolina and junior college in Mississippi, entered professional football as a Canadian Football league player — practice squad with the Baltimore Stallions, short stint with the Shreveport Pirates and a breakout season with the Memphis Mad Dogs — before catching on with the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs from 1996-99.

He caught 53 passes for 879 yards and seven touchdowns with Kansas City before signing with the Saints in 2000 and paying immediate dividends: 94 catches for 1,340 yards and eight touchdowns in his first season. Horn, a member of the Saints Hall of Fame, posted four 1,000-yard seasons in New Orleans and was a four-time Pro Bowler.

The journey has led to the Louisiana Sports HOF.

"I was optimistic, but I never thought about it," Horn said. "All I did was kept my head down and kept grinding. But all the accolades that come behind my career and my work, I'm very humbled by it all. It's an awesome feeling. I'm very humbled by it, and I appreciate everyone down there who even thought of me in giving me that honor."

Horn said his family, which includes eight children (six boys and two girls), and friends fueled his production.

"My family, my children, have a lot to do with all that," he said. "Friends and loved ones, I felt like I was playing for everyone else. To take care of everything else. I wanted everyone else, when I came out of the 'hood, to come with me. And I felt that way every time I put on a helmet.

"A lot of people have other things that fuel them to be successful and to want to keep working hard, but that's all it was. It was my kids, it was my family, it was my immediate loved ones in my life — my friends — that I knew every time I strapped it up, I wanted to do everything I could to allow them to enjoy the fruits of my labor."

The fruits are sweet. Six of Horn's children were able to see him play, though possibly too young to be cognizant of what they were watching. They won't get to see him make an induction speech; Horn said a previous engagement means he will not be able to attend the ceremony.

But Hollywood is excited all the same.

"I got the call and I was humbled and excited about the opportunity," he said. "I don't get on too many highs or lows, I stay balanced with my emotions."