WR Simmons will try his chance with the Saints

According to latest reports, free agent wide receiver Jamarko Simmons has been offered a chance to try if he could put on the New Orleans Saints jersey. The Saints are scheduled to hold rookie minicamp next week, and Simmons is allowed to take part in with newly drafted young players.

Formerly a star wide receiver with the Western Michigan University, Simmons unfortunately did not have a good start with his professional football career. With no team picking him after last year’s NFL draft, he became an undrafted free agent and signed with the Green Bay Packers as a priority free agent. However, he injured his back last summer and even did not get a chance to show what he can do for the team before the Packers eventually released him in August. Afterwards, he had a surgery on the back and seemed to have a good recovery.

Actually, the Saints did not offer any promise except for the tryout in rookie minicamp, but the tryout itself means quite a lot to Simmons as it is his first one. Definitely he will try his best of impress Saints’ coaches as much as he can during the minicamp so that he could have a chance to play for the Super Bowl XLIV champions.

The New Orleans is celebrating Saints’ Victory

Returning from Miami after a 31-17 Super Bowl victory over the Indianapolis Colts, the New Orleans Saints were welcomed by thousands of cheering fans who decked in black-and-gold lining the road. They were welcoming the champions and greeting a team of heroes who have kept hope alive in this city.


Wearing Saints jerseys, they just came from the all-night party celebrating the Saints’ first Super Bowl victory in 43 years of history. At first fans even had trouble believing the win, but soon threw a huge “Lombardi Party” with pride and ecstasy. Four years after the Hurricane Katrina flooded 80 percent of the city and destroyed thousands of homes and small businesses, something really worth excitement really happened. Long-suffering fans throughout the city shot off fireworks, danced in the streets and second-lined down the St. Charles Avenue streetcar tracks.

“After Katrina everyone was hurting,” said Derek Stevens, 27, who was still on Bourbon Street at dawn. “The Saints was the one thing we had that was positive, that made us hopeful.”

Yeah, people in New Orleans seemed crazy all the day and night, but everyone aware of the pain they suffered understands their feeling and knows they should be so.

RB Bush expects nothing more than being with Saints

After scoring three touchdowns in the New Orleans Saints’ first two playoff games, running back Reggie Bush now has won a Super Bowl and a BCS national title at Sun Life Stadium. As about the future, he said he expects nothing more than playing football in Saints jersey for the rest of his career.


Except for the postseason performance, Bush did not do good enough job in regular season, having a career-low 117 touches on offense and having been hampered by knee injuries for much of his career. As the No.2 overall pick in 2006, he has not lived up to the high bar set by the Saints. Even a few days before the Super Bowl game, Bush admitted himself that he had not lived up to his own expectations.

Because of the poor regular-season performance, there were rumors that Bush would be asked to take a pay cut or be released in the offseason. Bush’s base salary is $8 million in 2010, but it seems that Bush does not mind gaining less than that as long as he could stay with the Saints.

“Anything is possible,” he said. “That’s kind of the mindset you have in this league. As for me, I would love nothing more than to be in New Orleans for the rest of my career.”

McAllister will be with Saints during Super Bowl

Although Deuce McAllister does not play game any more for the New Orleans Saints, it seems that the Saints players will be in great mood as long as he was there with them. Kicking consultant John Carney’s words just represent most Saints.

“When I think of Deuce, I think of a player that embodies what we want to be about and we want to represent as a New Orleans Saints,” Carney said. “That is tough, dependable, strong - a guy who’s got strong faith in his abilities, a guy that anybody would want as a teammate and friend.”

Because of operations on each knee, 31-year-old McAllister officially retired last month as there seemed no team to give him chance to play in NFL jersey again. A few days later the Saints decided to re-sign him for a purely ceremonial role when they beat the Arizona Cardinals to win division title. By the end of his playing days with the Saints, McAllister had led the team with 6,096 career rushing yards as well as 55 total touchdowns and 49 rushing TDs.

Saints are also planning to give their No.1 QB contract extension

While recent reports said that the Indianapolis Colts are planning to sign contract extension with their four-time MVP quarterback Peyton Manning, their Super Bowl opponent, the New Orleans Saints will do similar thing to Drew Brees.

While Manning’s contract is to expire after the 2010 season, Brees’ current deal will not expire until the end of the 2011 season. The current contract has made Brees the 17th-highest paid QB in the NFL this season. As the Colts plan to offer Manning the highest pay of the league, I guess the Saints’ offer for contract extension will give Brees some rise in quarterbacks’ payment ranking.

Perhaps it depends on the result of the Super Bowl game on this Sunday. At least Brees’ agent Tom Condon will do his best to strive for largest profit to his clients in both teams’ NFL jerseys- if Manning, who is also represented by Condon, is to get the highest pay, the Saints should show equal sincerity in keeping Brees as the Colts have shown in keeping Manning.

Saints won 13th straight game by beating Falcons 26-23

Along with the Indianapolis Colts, the New Orleans Saints kept their clean streak of winning games. The Saints went closer to a perfect season with another tight win: a 26-23 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

Quarterback Drew Brees, linebacker Jonathan Vilma and kicker Garrett Hartley were among the main contributors. Brees was 31 for 40 and threw for 296 yards and three touchdowns, Vilma came up with two huge defensive plays when Falcons rallied from 14 points down, and Hartley made a 38-yard field goal with a 4:42 remaining.

Anyway the Falcons did not play a bad game, but they did not have two of its biggest stars: quarterback Matt Ryan and running back Michael Turner, who have been out for second game because of injuries. If both starters would have put on their Falcons jerseys to play the game, the result might have been different.

Brees back with Saints, ready for playing in preseason game

Quarterback Drew Brees returned to the New Orleans Saints’ practice field and was ready for Saturday’s preseason game against the Houston Texans.

Brees skipped practices because he went to attend the funeral of his mother, Mina Brees, who died Aug. 7 in Colorado. Upon the returning on Thursday, Brees said that time has helped him deal with his mother’s death and that he can focus on his work as an athlete wearing nfl jersey now.

“When my mom first passed away, it was just such a shock,” he said. “And now that it’s been almost two weeks, and we’ve already had the memorial services, so to have those and feel like there’s some sense of closure, that makes it (where) I’m able to compartmentalize that enough and try to think about football.”

Brees expressed his gratitude to the team’s support. Saints owner Tom Benson let a group of players and coaches use his private jet to attend Monday’s service. He said that he would get back into rhythm in shortest time and be ready to start the Saturday preseason game against the Texans.

Saints signed rookie CB Jenkins with a 5-year contract

On Sunday night, the New Orleans Saints signed a five year contract with rookie cornerback Malcolm Jenkins. The financial terms have not been released yet. The contract opened the way for Jenkins to report to training camp.


The former Ohio State standout was the Saints’ first-round draft pick. He started 45 games in a four-year career at Ohio State and earned himself first-team All-America honors and the Jim Thorpe Award as a senior. During his career, he had 11 interceptions and returned two for touchdowns. While he was playing on the special teams, he blocked three punts, two during his senior season.

Before the contract was signed, Jenkins had missed the first 10 days of camp, including the club’s scrimmage on Saturday. But Saints GM Mickey Loomis was confident that with the contract signed, Jenkins would get up to speed soon. At the moment Jenkins is used as a backup, but he will have an opportunity to play in all four exhibition games as he attempts to work his way into the Saints lineup.