Category: Former Saints

ESPN: Reggie Bush will be getting his Heisman Trophy back

It’s about time. ESPN reports that former Saints running back Reggie Bush will have the Heisman Trophy he won at USC returned to him:

It’s about time: ESPN’s Pete Thamel reports that the Heisman Trust will return Reggie Bush’s Heisman Trophy. The former New Orleans Saints running back won that trophy in 2005 after an outstanding three-year run with the USC Trojans, but was forced to forfeit it in 2010 after an NCAA investigation slammed the school for improper recruiting violations.

Thamel adds that an announcement from the Heisman Trust is coming on Wednesday, in which this unprecedented “reinstatement” of Bush’s trophy will be chalked up to “enormous changes in the college football landscape.” Name, image, and likeness (NIL) legislation has allowed today’s student-athletes to enjoy many of the benefits that Bush was blacklisted for, none of which had anything to do with his achievements on the football field in the first place.

Bush will receive the trophy he gave up, while USC will be given a replica to display on campus. He will receive all of the benefits that other Heisman Trophy winners enjoy like participation in future awards ceremonies and a ballot to vote on the winner each year. Maybe he’ll get a spot in the Heisman House commercial ad campaign, too.

He’s walked a difficult road to get here. Bush was cleared to return to USC’s campus after a decade of disassociation ended in 2020, and he’s since taken legal action to try and have his Heisman Trophy returned to him. College football superfans have bought billboards and other Heisman Trophy winners like Johnny Manziel have added their voices to the chorus calling for the Heisman Trust to reverse course. And all those efforts were not in vain. Now, Bush will finally have his place in college football history.

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Former Saints All-Pro Deonte Harty signs with Ravens

Deonte Harty has found a new team. The former Saints All-Pro return man is signing with his hometown Ravens:

Deonte Harty has found a new team. The former New Orleans Saints All-Pro return specialist has signed a one-year contract with the Baltimore Ravens, returning to his hometown.

Harty spent his first four seasons in the league with the Saints, primarily working as a returner for them. In 2019, Harty led the entire league with 338 punt return yards to go along with a return touchdown. These numbers ultimately led to Harty receiving All-Pro recognition in his very first season.

In 2021, Harty earned an increased role as a receiver in the New Orleans offense, specifically as a deep threat option for Jameis Winston. Harty hit career-high numbers that season with 36 catches for 570 yards and three touchdowns.

However, an injury-plagued season in 2022 led to a parting of ways, but Harty was able to rebound when signing with the Buffalo Bills. Harty was active in 16 games for the Bills last year, providing a spark to their special teams unit, but he was let go as a salary cap casualty this offseason. With the Ravens’ departure of receiver/returner Devin Duvernay, Harty should be able to find himself literally right at home in Baltimore.

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Saints announce 2025 Saints Legends Fan Cruise

The New Orleans Saints announced their partnership with Seaside Events to launch the Saints Legends Fan Cruise in April 2025:

Here’s a new one. On Monday, the New Orleans Saints announced their partnership with Seaside Events to launch the Saints Legends Fan Cruise in April 2025, which you can read more about here. The seven-night cruise on the Norwegian Getaway will tour the Western Caribbean with stops in Mexico, Belize, and Honduras.

What’s unique is that this gives diehard Saints fans the opportunity to interact with some of their favorite players at meet and greets, group dinners, panel discussions, and autograph sessions, among other events. Additionally, the first 50 cabin bookings will receive seats at the Suite or Club level for a 2024/2025 Saints home game.

Saints owner Gayle Benson announced the cruise in a statement from the team: “We are thrilled to join forces with Seaside Events for this exciting venture, offering Saints fans an exclusive opportunity to interact with our Legends in a vibrant and exclusive atmosphere, fostering memories that will endure for a lifetime.”

So who will be in attendance? Pro Football Hall of Famer Rickey Jackson has already committed for the cruise, and so has fan favorites like Pat Swilling, Michael Lewis, Joe Horn, and Fred McAfee, and many other former Saints players. There aren’t many other events like this one, so be sure to check it out.

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Yet another former Saints player joins Sean Payton’s Broncos

Yet another former Saints player is teaming up with Sean Payton on the Broncos. Calvin Throckmorton has landed in a good place to compete:

Sean Payton might be building the whole plane out of former New Orleans Saints players, or at least his entire Denver Broncos roster. The ex-Saints head coach brought in yet another ex-Saints player to compete for a roster spot — the Broncos announced on Monday that Calvin Throckmorton had signed a one-year deal with the team.

Throckmorton, a former guard the Saints signed as an undrafted free agent out of Oregon, was waived during roster cuts last summer and initially landed with the Carolina Panthers. They later waived him, too, and he ended the 2023 season with the Tennessee Titans. Throckmorton started most of the 2021 season at right guard (five games) or left guard (10 games) under Payton before being demoted to a backup role in 2022.

It’s possible Throckmorton could compete at center in Denver, but he’s likeliest to back up Quinn Meinerz and Ben Powers at guard. He also played a lot of snaps at tackle in college, so he has options. We’ll see if he’s in the lineup when Payton and the Broncos visit New Orleans for a game at the Caesars Superdome in the fall.

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Jimmy Graham pens heartfelt speech to New Orleans in cryptic Instagram post

Jimmy Graham’s Instagram post to Saints fanns and the city of New Orleans had all the makings of a retirement speech without saying the words:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C5HMtzGOH9X/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

This might mean goodbye. Jimmy Graham did everything short of saying he was retiring in a recent Instagram post. The New Orleans Saints legend thanked Saints fans and penned a heartfelt message to the city and the team, which is customary when a player is leaving a team. Seeing that Graham is 37 and already spent a year away from football, this feels like an implied retirement. Graham is also preparing to row across the Arctic in July 2025, so stepping away from the game to prepare for that adventure seems logical.

After a seven-year hiatus, Graham returned to the team that drafted him back in 2010. It took the entire season to learn how to use him, but Graham excelled in his limited role once the Saints called his number. His 6 catches on the year all went for touchdowns or first downs. His impeccable effectiveness feels like a proper send off even though he didn’t even hit 100 yards receiving.

For clarification, Graham never said he was retiring. The message does feel eerily similar to a retirement speech. Maybe he left that out on purpose to keep us on our toes.

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Former Saints trainer Dean Kleinschmidt recognized by Pro Football Hall of Fame

Former New Orleans Saints trainer Dean Kleinschmidt was recognized by Pro Football Hall of Fame with their Awards of Excellence for 2024:

Dean Kleischmidt, former New Orleans Saints head athletic trainer, was one of the recipients for this year’s Awards of Excellence by the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Kleinschmidt spent 31 years working for the Saints, starting in 1969 as an assistant athletic trainer. He was promoted to head athletic trainer in 1971 at age 23 and was the youngest person to hold that position in the NFL.

“He’s been my mentor when I was doing athletic training, he’s been a friend, a close friend, for now 50 years,” said Saints executive director of administration Jay Romig. “He’s a tremendous person and is so well-deserving to (be honored by) the Professional Football Hall of Fame.”

Kleinschmidt is also a member of the Louisiana Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame, the National Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame, the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame and the Southeastern Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame.

“He’s played a big part in the history of football, football in this area and wherever he’s been,” Romig said.

The Awards of Excellence, first given out in 2022, recognize assistant coaches, athletic trainers, equipment managers, film/video directors and public relations personnel who have made major contributions to the game. The Hall of Fame itself does not take part in the nomination process.

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Thomas Morstead reacts to NFL eliminating surprise onside kicks

The surprise onside kick was already in danger, but now it’s extinct. Saints legend Thomas Morstead is just happy to have played a part in its memorable story:

Surprise onside kicks were already an endangered species in the NFL, but a new rules change is pushing them into extinction. As part of a new hybrid kick return model being trialed in 2024, teams must declare whether they’re trying an onside kick — something that’s really just a formality after previous rules changes made the play obvious.

Thomas Morstead became a New Orleans Saints legend for executing the team’s surprise onside kick, the “Ambush” play, to start the second half of Super Bowl XLIV. So for him this was a poignant moment. Morstead expressed his gratitude for having a place in NFL history as part of New Orleans’ championship-winning team.

Ironically, Saints special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi spearheaded the effort to change it while envisioning a model that will lead to more return opportunities (which you can read about here). Onside kicks were scarce in recent years, and successful recoveries were even more of a rarity, so this was a small sacrifice to make. As Morstead observed, “The game continues to change.”

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Eagles sign another player from the Saints’ 2023 practice squad

The Philadelphia Eagles signed another player from the New Orleans Saints Saints’ 2023 practice squad, joining Shaquan Davis:

The Philadelphia Eagles signed another player from the New Orleans Saints Saints’ 2023 practice squad, joining second-year wide receiver Shaquan Davis. Defensive tackle PJ Mustipher, another second-year pro, was not retained when the Saints signed most of their practice squad to reserve/future contracts after the season ended. Now he’s going to Philly.

Mustipher, 25, was an undrafted free agent pickup for the Denver Broncos last summer (turning pro out of Penn State) who spent most of the season on their practice squad. The Saints poached a player from Denver, for a change, by signing Mustipher to their 53-man roster once injuries hit the position. Ironically, the Broncos ended up signing one of the players Mustipher was replacing in New Orleans — Malcolm Roach. He was later moved down to the practice squad, where he finished the 2023 season.

Now he gets a new opportunity in Philadelphia. Life for young players like Mustipher and Davis can be hectic as they’re tasked with moving from one city to the next, sometimes in the space of just a few months. Good luck to them both on the Eagles.

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ESPN says Michael Thomas should reunite with ex-Saints coach Sean Payton

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell sees a “perfect fit” for Michael Thomas on the Broncos. Can he and Sean Payton get back on the same page?

It would be surprising to see Michael Thomas and Sean Payton wearing the same team’s colors again, but you never know. ESPN’s Bill Barnwell made the case for the former New Orleans Saints wide receiver to work with the ex-Saints head coach, saying that the Denver Broncos could be a perfect fit for Thomas as he searches for a new team.

“Denver’s roster is in flux as it rebuilds post-Russell Wilson,” Barnwell wrote, “but after trading Jerry Jeudy, it looks like it will run with Courtland Sutton and Marvin Mims as its top two wideouts. Tim Patrick took a pay cut to return, but he has missed each of the last two seasons with injuries. Thomas could reunite with former coach Sean Payton and compete with Patrick for that third wideout role.”

From a pure personnel perspective, it makes sense. The Broncos need a receiver. Thomas is a receiver. That’s a match, right?

Not so fast. Thomas’ relationship with Payton fractured over the years, with Thomas blaming Payton for the ankle injury that started his long-lasting medical issues; Thomas was asked to go out and block late in a blowout win, and to return quickly in order to help Drew Brees in the last year of his career. Thomas was set to leave the Saints after Payton stepped down from his post until Dennis Allen flew out to California to recruit him back to the team.

Payton also benched Thomas and fined him for fighting with a teammate in practice at one point, and there had been other pressures building behind the scenes. So it would be surprising to see the two of them together again. Still, if Thomas isn’t seeing many offers in free agency, this isn’t a possibility we should rule out.

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Misdemeanor charges against Michael Thomas were dismissed, says attorney

Misdemeanor charges stemming from a Nov. 2023 arrest against Michael Thomas were dropped on Wednesday, his attorney told ESPN:

Michael Thomas can move on. His attorney Daniel Becnel told ESPN’s Katherine Terrell on Wednesday that misdemeanor charges stemming from a Nov. 2023 arrest had been dropped due to insufficient evidence, meaning the former New Orleans Saints wide receiver can focus on the next step for his NFL career.

Thomas was charged on counts of simple battery and criminal mischief,  having been accused of shoving a contractor and throwing a brick at his windshield over a parking dispute outside his home in Kenner, La. But Becnel says there was no proof of an altercation.

“There was no assault, there was no brick thrown,” Becnel told Terrell. “This was a dispute between a contractor and his employees, who were blocking his driveway and who were parking and walking on his grass. It came to a head one day, but there was no criminality involved. That’s obvious by the lack of any type of civil suit, the lack of any type of property damage, the lack of any medical issues and the lack of any physical evidence that criminal action took place.”

Thomas was released from custody the same night he was arrested by the Kenner Police Department, but he suffered a season-ending knee injury in the Saints’ road game with the Minnesota Vikings just two days later.

Now a free agent, Thomas is eager to move on with his career and find a fresh start in a new city on a new team. It’ll be interesting to see where the 2019 Offensive Player of the Year ends up, and whether he’ll be suiting up against his former teammates in 2024.

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