Tag: reaction

Demario Davis reacts to Walter Payton Man of the Year nomination

New Orleans Saints linebacker Demario Davis thanked the team for his Walter Payton Man of the Year Award nomination during a difficult year.

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Demario Davis was nominated for the 2020 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award this week, and the New Orleans Saints linebacker took time to thank the team for that recognition from his official Twitter account.

Between his efforts on the field — which earned him an All-Pro nod and a three-year contract extension this offseason — and his leadership in advocating for civil rights and criminal justice reform off of it, Davis has had a busy year and proven how much he means to his community.

The award’s winner will be announced in January; here’s how you can support Davis in the weeks ahead.

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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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Saints specialists pulling for Vanderbilt kicker Sarah Fuller

New Orleans Saints Wil Lutz and Thomas Morstead are rooting for Vanderbilt kicker Sarah Fuller, the first woman to play at the FBS level.

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Several New Orleans Saints will be watching this week’s college football games unfold closely, but for once they aren’t watching their Alma maters. Vanderbilt kicker Sarah Fuller is set to make history as the first woman to take the field in a Power 5 football game after successfully trying out for the team this week once several Commodores specialists were placed in quarantine due to COVID-19.

Fuller, a goalkeeper for Vanderbilt’s SEC championship-winning women’s soccer team, could join Katie Hnida (New Mexico) and April Goss (Kent State) as the only women to play at the FBS level. It would be a groundbreaking accomplishment, and it’s put Saints specialists Wil Lutz and Thomas Morstead on notice. The two NFL Pro Bowlers wrote well-wishes to Fuller before she and the Commodores kick off at noon ET Saturday on SEC Network:

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Roddy White bemoans Taysom Hill “playing backyard football and beating us”

New Orleans Saints backup Taysom Hill quarterbacked his way to a win over the Atlanta Falcons, bumming out retired wide receiver Roddy White

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Roddy White played the role of an antagonist in the New Orleans Saints’ rivalry with the Atlanta Falcons during his 11-year NFL career, often chirping with everyone from fans in the stands to Saints coach Sean Payton in games at the Superdome.

Considering the Saints were the only NFC South team he had a losing record against (going 7-15 over the years), it makes sense that he still feels some enmity towards a team he could never quite get the better of.

And as luck would have it, White spent the last week talking up how badly he was looking forwards to a Falcons upset in New Orleans. When reports came out Friday declaring Taysom Hill the starter in relief of Drew Brees, White took a preemptive victory lap.

Hill and the Saints got the last laugh, though. White spent much of the second half complaining about Hill’s play style proving difficult for his Falcons to defend and cheering on his old teammate Matt Ryan, who threw two interceptions and was sacked eight times on the afternoon.

And when the Saints sealed their 24-9 victory, Payton himself took time to celebrate by sharing one of White’s boisterous tweets to his own followers. It’s the sort of pettiness you love to see:

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LOOK: Twitter reacts to Kira Lewis Jr. being drafted to Pelicans

Former Alabama guard Kira Lewis Jr. was selected No. 13 overall by the New Orleans Pelicans, the internet reacts to the pick.

Former Alabama guard Kira Lewis Jr. has been drafted by the New Orleans Pelicans with the No. 13 overall selection.

Lewis will join former No. 1 overall pick from the 2019 draft and Duke product Zion Williamson, as well as Lonzo Ball in New Orleans.

This selection marks the third time a Crimson Tide product was selected in the first round of an NBA draft since 2001.

Alabama fans and the internet have reacted happily to the news. Here’s what they had to say:

It’s not official until Woj let’s us know.

Rothstein calls the Alabama product a “lottery sleeper.”

University of Alabama Athletics Director Greg Byrne shows his support.

The speed, athleticism and flash is all over the place in this group!

Avery Johnson recruited Kira, and now he’s letting the people know.

Fits right in with the style of play New Orleans is looking for.

Can’t confirm this, but can confirm he was at one point the youngest in ollege basketball as a 17-year old freshman.

Tears of joy, I presume.

The two meet in the Bayou.

Rookie of the year crazy?

A scary sight.

 

WATCH: Saints share the perfect Twitter response to NFL expert doubters

The New Orleans Saints had the perfect rebuttal to doubters who picked the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to defeat them in Week 10 of the NFL season.

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Only 15% of experts around the NFL’s orbit picked the New Orleans Saints to defeat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 9, which looks awful in hindsight. But no one came out of this looking worse than the on-air personalities who crowded pregame panels and sports talk radio in the hours leading up to kickoff.

“We’re in trouble, though,” said NBC Sports analyst Chris Simms on Sunday night after he and all of his colleagues turned in unanimous picks for Tampa Bay to win. “We’re gonna get trolled by New Orleans if things don’t happen this way.”

And he was right — the Saints put together a supercut of that TV spot and several others after winning 38-3 in Tampa Bay, set to the iconic outro tune from “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” the Larry David vehicle specializing in awkward social mishaps. It’s a great social media jab from New Orleans.

But it wasn’t received well by Simms and his NBC Sports colleague Mike Florio. Simms and Florio spent a substantial chunk of their Monday morning-after NFL coverage criticizing the Saints for singling them out, putting on a great display of self-seriousness.

“I understand players use motivation, whatever. But this is not a motivational tactic, and I’m with you (Florio), I’m sick of it,” Simms bemoaned. As one of NFL media’s most notorious hot take artists, it sounds like the kitchen got a little too heated for him this time. Maybe he should take a break.

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Could WR-needy Saints ask Wil Lutz to run routes? Kicker has hilarious reaction

New Orleans Saints kicker Wil Lutz wants to help his team win games, but he also wants it known that he’s not eager to play wide receiver.

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Wil Lutz is willing to do a lot to help the New Orleans Saints win football games. Kick field goals from 60 yards out? He’s your man. Execute an onside kick? He’s game. Lining up at the X-receiver spot and running a deep corner route? Maybe call up someone else.

The Saints have been hit hard by injuries and COVID-19 absences to the wide receiver corps, taking out three of their top five options for Sunday’s road game with the Chicago Bears: starters Michael Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders are unavailable, as is breakout rookie Marquez Callaway. So when a fan jokingly suggested it’s time for Lutz to try out in a big spot, he quickly shot the suggestion down.

Lutz referenced a botched trick play against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back in 2017, his own rookie year, when the Saints called him for to take off and run after a faked field goal. He was stopped short on 4th-and-5 by Buccaneers linebacker Kwon Alexander, which made for a painful collision between the specialist and a defender with 30 or 40 pounds on him and a full head of steam.

So that’s one option down. Fortunately, the Saints have plenty of other weapons to call on against Chicago, like Offensive Player of the Year candidate Alvin Kamara. If Lutz has his way, he’ll be kicking a number of extra-point attempts after a series of Kamara touchdowns on Sunday.

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Sean Payton takes another shot at insistent Michael Thomas trade speculation

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton took aim at Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio after continued Michael Thomas trade speculation.

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Will the New Orleans Saints trade wide receiver Michael Thomas? That’s the question NBC Sports insider Mike Florio continues to ask over at Pro Football Talk, and Saints coach Sean Payton is unamused.

Payton responded to another post from Florio claiming that while a trade deadline move for Thomas is unlikely, he believes there was an effort from Thomas’s agent to goal New Orleans into unloading one of their best players. That’s different from PFT’s initial spin, which suggested the Saints were actively shopping Thomas around.

So the social media-savvy coach went with a short video clip of someone reversing their bicycle — literally backpedaling on the story.

It’s just the latest rebuttal from Payton towards this sort of speculation. The Saints are not going to trade Thomas after giving him a $20 million signing bonus last year. They wouldn’t even consider moving him unless the situation seriously deteriorates, and not until the offseason when the financial aspect can be worked out.

This is a non-story, and Payton is right to slap it down.

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Sean Payton has the perfect response to Michael Thomas trade rumor

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton was not amused to see his star receiver Michael Thomas speculated as possible trade bait by the media.

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Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio created a stir on Saturday by raising questions about Michael Thomas’s status with the New Orleans Saints — asking whether the Saints could trade their star receiver before the NFL’s Nov. 3 deadline.

We already wrote about the several ways that makes no sense, but leave it to Saints coach Sean Payton to bring the hammer down himself.

Payton, who recently protected his tweets by making his official Twitter account private, responded to a Bleacher Report post citing Florio’s post by commenting, “Outsiders on the Inside where they belong.”

If that doesn’t silence these rumors, I’m not sure what will. The Saints have been patient with Thomas as he’s recovered from a Week 1 ankle sprain, and they’re just as disappointed to be playing without him as he is to not be able to join his teammates.

Hopefully he can get back to action soon and start executing Payton’s plays as well as anyone ever has (if not better). The Saints are a better team with Thomas in the fold, and everyone in the building knows that. As Payton pointed out, maybe those outside the facility should learn better.

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