New Orleanians have had to experience the unthinkable this week after a New Years Day terror attack left 15 dead with dozens more injured in the early hours on Wednesday morning. The attack led to the rescheduling of the AllState Sugar Bowl quarterfinal game in the College Football Playoff and an increased police presence in the city.
The New Orleans Saints issued a statement in the aftermath, while interim head coach Darren Rizzi shared his own message when speaking with local media on Wednesday afternoon: “Everybody, just want to start off by saying today’s obviously a very somber day in our community. I want to send out my personal heartfelt condolences, thoughts, prayers, to all the victims in this senseless shooting and attack early this morning in the French Quarter.”
Rizzi said, personally, this “hits close to home” given his experience in 9/11. The New Jersey native lost family friends and former teammates in that attack and situations like this resonate strongly for him. He added that his five children were all the same ages of many victims in this attack and several of them have been out in the area where it occurred. Seeing a community that’s welcomed him and his family with open arms be hurt like this was painful.
He described a somber mood in the team meeting room on Wednesday, which began with a prayer and moment of silence for victims of the attack. Rizzi continued, “We talked for about 10 minutes this morning at the beginning of our team meeting, and nothing had to do with football. It all had to do with keeping things in perspective and how blessed and fortunate we all are at the start of a new year. What we do here is obviously important to all the individuals that are here, but there’s much more important things going on around the world and right here in our community and at home.”
Rizzi also said that all members of the organization were safe and accounted for, but he wanted to keep focus on the victims and their families and loved ones. Team leaders like Cameron Jordan have led fundraising efforts to support them, which you can read more about here, and they’ll continue to do good work lending the community a helping hand.
“We’re out here playing for the community, for New Orleans, for the state of Louisiana. We’re playing for our fan base,” Rizzi said. “In times like this sometimes, you can uplift people and you can bring, and shed a positive light in any way you can in a moment of disaster. Because that’s what this is, it’s a disaster. And our guys went out there with a focus today, but you know when practice is over you’re right back to reality. This is still sitting out here. There’s still a lot of stuff going on and I thought our players handled it very professionally and very personally.”
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