Tag: React

Saints defenders tip their hats to Broncos WR-turned-QB Kendall Hinton

New Orleans Saints defenders had to tip their hats to Denver Broncos WR-turned-QB Kendall Hinton, who made the most of an awful situation.

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Everyone appreciated how difficult a situation Kendall Hinton was thrust into — including his New Orleans Saints opponents. The practice squad wide receiver and former Wake Forest passer woke up this weekend and learned that he was going to start at quarterback for the Denver Broncos without having taken a single snap in practice after Denver’s entire depth chart was wiped out by COVID-19.

No, his numbers were not impressive. He went just 1-of-9 as a passer for 13 yards, adding 7 rushing yards on a pair of carries. But there aren’t many people who can go into a game and even complete a pass on such short notice against such a stout defense, which Saints captains Cameron Jordan and Demario Davis found commendable:

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Terron Armstead confirms positive COVID-19 test, says ‘Everyone stay safe’

New Orleans Saints left tackle Terron Armstead confirmed his positive COVID-19 test result, which will sideline him for Week 12 vs. Broncos.

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Multiple reports on Saturday named New Orleans Saints left tackle Terron Armstead as the player who tested positive for COVID-19, which Armstead himself confirmed from his official Twitter account. He’s as bummed as anyone to miss this week’s game with the Denver Broncos, but he understands the bigger issue of everyone doing their best to stay safe.

Armstead said that he is not experiencing symptoms of an infection, which suggests he could be on track to return sooner rather than later. If he continues to not exhibit symptoms and can test negative twice, with a window of 24 hours between tests, he can be cleared to join his teammates for next week’s game with the Atlanta Falcons.

Still, the Saints will be feeling his loss in the short-term, even if it ends up being just one game. Armstead has played like one of the best left tackles in the NFL this season. Here’s hoping backup left tackle James Hurst can hold it down in his absence, however long it ends up lasting.

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Michael Thomas reacts to Deshaun Watson’s monster contract extension

The Houston Texans signed QB Deshaun Watson to a big contract extension, prompting New Orleans Saints WR Michael Thomas to congratulate him.

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Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson is easy to root for, even in the eyes of his peers. So when he earned a $40 million per-year contract extension on Saturday, he also earned words of congratulations from other young stars around the NFL — like New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas.

Thomas praised Watson from his official Twitter account, also offering a shoutout to Watson’s agent, David Mulugheta of Athletes First. Mulugheta once represented Thomas himself, though the All-Pro wide receiver has since signed with a different member of the same agency: Andrew Kessler, who helped secure a $100 million extension for Thomast last summer.

It’s a big win for Watson, who returned from an early-career knee injury to lead the Texans in several postseason runs. He’s one of the most exciting young quarterbacks in the game today, and memorable to Saints fans after taking them down to the wire in the 2019 season opener. For our part, we’re happy to see him stay in the AFC, where the Saints will only have to see him every four years.

That said: what could Watson’s contract extension mean for the Saints quarterbacks? Both Taysom Hill and Jameis Winston will be testing free agency in the next year or two, and this is the sort of tide that raises all ships. If either of them becomes the starter in New Orleans after Drew Brees, they should expect their salaries to take a big boost to keep up with the market. Now just how high they might claim remains to be seen.

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Chiefs players react to Super Bowl LIV championship ring unboxing

Kansas City Chiefs players finally have their Super Bowl championship rings and they’re enjoying the moment.

The Kanas City Chiefs hosted their Super Bowl LIV championship ring ceremony tonight at Arrowhead Stadium. During the ceremony, each player was individually introduced by Mitch Holthus, while messages from their family members were played. They received a box containing their personalized Super Bowl ring from Clark Hunt. After everyone received their box, Hunt gave a speech and explained the significance of each individual detail of the ring before the team opened their ring boxes simultaneously.

It was a special moment for the players, coaches and staff to receive the rings that they worked so hard to achieve. Many of them took to social media shortly after the unboxing to share photos, videos and words to describe what it was like to finally get the ring. Here’s a look at some of the reactions:

Tyreek Hill embodied the entirety of Chiefs Kingdom with his reaction.

Mitchell Schwartz showed off every angle of his ring.

Ben Niemann celebrated with his fellow linebackers.

Breeland Speaks was impressed by the size of the ring.

Derrick Nnadi is in awe of his dream becoming a reality.

Demone Harris reflected on his journey to becoming a Super Bowl champion.

Gehrig Dieter and his wife Meg took tons of photos of the special occasion.

The coaches and athletic training staff got their rings during the ceremony too and didn’t hesitate to show them off.

I had to get involved and share the exact moment when Andy Reid unboxed his ring.

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, DB Tyrann Mathieu, DE Frank Clark, and DB Armani Watts all relished the moment, but they’ve already turned their attention to earning the next Super Bowl victory. It all starts in Arrowhead Stadium next week when the Chiefs open the season against the Texans on Sept. 10.

Players react as potential college football cancellation looms

With the college football season appearing to be in jeopardy, players across the country took to social media to voice their desire to play.

On Sunday night, reports began to surface that the Big 10 university presidents were close to moving to cancel the 2020 fall sports season, including college football. The news came after the Group of Five’s Mid-American Conference announced that it was canceling all fall competition earlier in the day.

With the college football season appearing to be in jeopardy, players across the country took to social media to voice their concerns and desire for a season to be held. It started with Clemson quarterback and projected first-overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft Trevor Lawrence, who posted a series of tweets pointing out that players may be safer at school with the program than some would be at home, if university policy dictated they could no longer be on campus.

Players nationwide followed Lawrence’s lead, posting their support for the “We Want to Play” movement. That list included Florida running back Lorenzo Lingard, who is eligible this season after transferring from Miami, and defensive lineman Kyree Campbell.

Campbell, a senior in 2020, is expected to see a bigger role on the team than he has in the past. If the season were to be canceled, its unclear what the course of action would be in terms of eligibility relief. Though the NCAA is currently allowing players to opt-out of the season and retain their eligibility, its unlikely such a provision could be guaranteed to all players should all competition this year be nixed.

Tight end Kyle Pitts also joined his teammates in voicing his support for a season in the fall on Monday morning.

After news broke late Sunday night that the Big 10 administrators would be having an impromptu meeting to discuss the season, Lawrence posted once again, this time sharing a graphic of joint demands between the “We Are United” movement (started by Pac-12 players to ensure safety standards, compensation and other improvements for student-athletes) and the “We Want to Play” movement. Among the list of demands Lawrence posted was improved open communication between athletes and officials, with the ultimate goal of forming a college football players association.

Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, currently the projected No. 2 pick in next year’s draft, also tweeted his support for these demands.

On Monday morning, it was reported that at the meeting Sunday night, Big 10 presidents voted 12-2 to cancel the season, with Iowa and Nebraska reportedly being the dissenting votes. Dan Patrick reported Monday that the Pac-12 will follow the Big 10’s lead shortly.

Though the SEC, ACC and Big 12 are currently holding firm and hoping to see how the return of students to campus in the coming weeks, ESPN reported Sunday night that those leagues could be forced into action by decisions from the Big 10 and Pac-12.

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Twitter reacts to Cameron Jordan’s NFL-best official headshot

New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan takes well-deserved pride in his official NFL photograph for game programs and stats sheets.

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Does anyone have as much with the NFL’s offseason as Cameron Jordan? The New Orleans Saints defensive end has found a way to make light of even the dullest duties, like the equipment-fitting and photograph session early in Saints training camp. A normally boring, hours-long process has turned into Jordan’s latest attempt at going viral.

And it’s due to his new haircut. Jordan has changed up his look almost every summer he’s been in the NFL, trying out new hairstyles, dye jobs, and carefully-trimmed mustaches. In 2020, though, he’s risen to new heights by wearing a throwback of flowing curls and sculpted mutton chops. See it for yourself.

The end result is an immediately-iconic headshot of Jordan, which will grace NFL game programs, stats books, and the league’s official website. It’s just the latest entry in Jordan’s long-running series, but we have to ask: which is the best?

And naturally, there were plenty of thoughts and reactions to Jordan’s new look from his teammates. But even Saints coach Sean Payton got in on the fun:

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Chiefs players blast Saints QB Drew Brees over ‘disrespecting the flag’ comments

Chiefs players gave Saints QB Drew Brees a piece of their mind after recent comments on kneeling protests.

Kansas City Chiefs players have taken to Twitter to react to recent comments from New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees.

Brees was asked on by Yahoo’s Daniel Roberts on Wednesday about how he’d react from a point of leadership if players kneeled in protest in 2020 during the national anthem as former NFL QB Colin Kaepernick once did. Despite protests, riots and civil unrest across the country calling for racial equality and the end of police brutality, Brees says he will never agree with that type of protest.

“Well I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country,” Brees said. “Let me just tell you what I see or what I feel when the national anthem is played and when I look at the flag of the United States. I envision my two grandfathers who fought for this country during World War II — one in the Army and one in the Marine Corps. Both risking their lives to protect our country and to try to make our country and this world a better place. So every time I stand with my hand over my heart, looking at that flag and singing the national anthem, that’s what I think about. And in many cases, it brings me to tears thinking about all that has been sacrificed. Not just those in the military, but for that matter, those throughout the civil rights movements of the ’60s and all that has been endured by so many people up until this point. And is everything right with our country right now? No, it’s not. We still have a long way to go, but I think what you do by standing there and showing respect to the flag with your hand over your heart is it shows unity, it shows that we are all in this together, we can all do better, and we are all part of the solution.”

Players across the league have reacted to Brees’ comments, including several members of the Chiefs. Second-year RB Darwin Thompson thought of his own grandfather, who spent over a decade in the military, and how he’d feel about the current state of this country.

Starting cornerback Charvarius Ward didn’t need words to describe how he felt about Brees and his comments.

Finally, Tyrann Mathieu sought to remind Drew Brees of the people that he represents.

It’s clear that many across the NFL who respected Brees and looked to him as a leader are disappointed in his words. They’re likely rethinking their stance on the quality and authenticity of his character following these comments.

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Sean Payton, Saints players respond to Brandon Marshall’s ESPN tirade

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton and players like Cameron Jordan reacted to Brandon Marshall’s fiery ranting on ESPN’s First Take show.

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Former NFL wide receiver Brandon Marshall made an appearance on ESPN’s “First Take” morning show on Thursday, and he apparently brought an ax to grind. Marshall took aim at the New Orleans Saints in a lengthy rant, insisting that the team’s Super Bowl window slammed shut after the 2019 season.

Marshall followed that up by saying that the Saints aren’t built for success with players like Drew Brees, Michael Thomas, Alvin Kamara, and a defense loaded with Pro Bowlers. He also called out Saints coach Sean Payton, swearing that the NFL has figured out the league’s third-rated scoring offense.

Some of those players responded to Marshall’s chatter on social media, as did Payton himself. Payton replied to a video of Marshall’s claims with his own image of a “Zoltar” fortune teller machine, evidently laughing off the criticism:

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Saints teammates respond to Teddy Bridgewater’s deal with the Panthers

The Carolina Panthers are working to complete a contract agreement with New Orleans Saints backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.

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New Orleans Saints backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is close to completing a contract with the Carolina Panthers, which he cannot sign until the beginning of the new NFL fiscal year — at 3 p.m. CT on Wednesday, March 18. Once finalized, that deal is projected to put Bridgewater in a starting role under center, with Cam Newton expected to be traded away.

It’s great to see Bridgewater get this opportunity, even if it’s happening with a division rival in the NFC South. But some of Bridgewater’s former Saints teammates also shared their reactions to the news on Twitter, with responses ranging from celebratory congratulations to disappointment at the loss of a popular member of the locker room.

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