Tag: scott fujita

Members of the 2009 Super Bowl team visit Saints practice

Drew Brees, Lance Moore, Roman Harper and more players from the 2009 Super Bowl team visited New Orleans Saints training camp on Tuesday:

The New Orleans Saints brought some former Super Bowl champions out to Tuesday’s practice. Drew Brees, Scott Fujita, Roman Harper, Lance Moore and Scott Shanle all visited training camp practice in Irvine.

Rodney Leslie was also a guest Tuesday afternoon. Leslie was drafted by New Orleans in 2004 and made his way back in 2009. He played one game in the Super Bowl season before going on injured reserve.

There was a cool shot posted on the Saints social media page of Harper, Moore and Fujita chatting with former teammate Jahri Evans.

Evans was an integral part of the Saints offensive line. He along with Carl Nicks helped keep the middle of the pocket clean for Brees for multiple years. Evans is now an assistant offensive line coach for the Saints.

Brees recently advocated for a higher usage of Taysom Hill at quarterback, and the two took some time to catch up after practice.

Having players from the Super Bowl era was a welcome addition at practice. Drew Brees is Drew Brees, and Lance Moore has spent time covering the team with Boot Krewe Media recently. As individuals, these players are beloved among fans and still highly respected among players.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5]

Super Bowl XLIV champion Scott Fujita is the Saints Player of Day 54

There isn’t an active player using the No. 54 jersey, so Super Bowl XLIV champion Scott Fujita is the New Orleans Saints Player of Day 54:

We’re counting down the days until the New Orleans Saints’ regular season opener by highlighting a Player of the Day every day, but there isn’t an active player using the No. 54 jersey. And there aren’t many notable players in team history who have worn it — no Pro Bowlers or All-Pros, and the member of the Saints’ Super Bowl XLIV-winning team who used it, Troy Evans, was a backup.

So we’re cheating a little and going with an old fan-favorite. Scott Fujita (who wore No. 55) is our pick for the New Orleans Saints Player of Day 54.

Fujita played college football at California, and he grew up six hours’ drive down the West Coast in Ventura, near Los Angeles. The Kansas City Chiefs picked him in the fifth round of the 2002 NFL draft and it didn’t take long for him to win a starting job. He spent the 2005 season with the Dallas Cowboys and the experience of working against him in practice every day convinced Sean Payton (the Cowboys’ offensive play caller at the time) to sign him as a free agent the next spring.

And that’s when Fujita’s career really took off. He was a key piece of the changing locker room culture that Payton installed in New Orleans, starting 54 of the 56 games he appeared in over the next four years — plus three playoff games in 2009, including Super Bowl XLIV. Fujita was an impressive tag-team partner for Jonathan Vilma at the second level of the Saints defense, and he quickly endeared himself to Saints fans.

He spent the last three years of his playing career with the Cleveland Browns, but Fujita retired a Saint — and he did so memorably, perched on top of a mountain in South America back in 2013. He’s remained close with his old teammate Steve Gleason over the years and helped Gleason hike the Andes to visit the famous ruins of Machu Picchu, where he formally signed his one-day retirement contract with the Saints and shared an emotional speech to his supporters.

Few players have done the black and gold prouder. Fujita left his mark on New Orleans and the Saints, and it’s a great thing that his time with the team was as meaningful for him as it was for those cheering him on.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5]

Former Saints CB Prince Amukamara signs one-day contract to retire with Giants

Prince Amukamara signed a one-day deal so he could retire with the Giants, who drafted him back in 2011. His last NFL contract was with the Saints during their 2021 training camp:

Plenty of players have signed ceremonial one-day contracts so they could retire with the New Orleans Saints — Lance Moore, Jermon Bushrod, and Scott Fujita on top of a mountain in South America — but it’s not often that the inverse happens. Former NFL cornerback Prince Amukamara did just that, signing a one-day deal with the New York Giants so he could hang up his cleats with Big Blue.

It wasn’t a hard decision to make. Amukamara was drafted by the Giants back in 2011 and spent most of his career there, but his last NFL contract was with the Saints during their 2021 training camp. He wasn’t able to push then-rookie Paulson Adebo for the starting job so the Saints released him from his contract two weeks after he signed it.

Out of football for the rest of 2021 and 2022, Amukamara has now formally retired, and he’s done so as a Giant. New York picked him at No. 19 overall in the 2011 draft (out of Nebraska) and he’ll get to say he ended his career in pro football where he started it. Good for him.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]