Michael Vick is ditching his red and black uniform for black and white stripes. The former Falcons QB is pleading guilty to federal dogfighting conspiracy charges. The plea deal means he'll likely do about a year of jail time. We won't know just how long he'll be sent to the slammer until his sentencing hearing next Monday.
Who could forget just a few weeks ago when Vick urged the public not to rush to judgement in his dogfighting case? He followed that up by professing his innocence in a statement read by his attorney. Not since "I did not have sexual relations with that woman" has a man's own words come back to bite him...doggie style!
Meanwhile, the Chicks are left to ponder...what will become of our most hated NFL opponent? Joey Harrington will obviously take over as the Falcons starting QB this season. But we'll get far less pleasure out of seeing Charles Grant lay Lil' Joey on his back than we would #7. The Falcons and the NFL remain mum on Vick's future with the franchise. But that's sort of like when you crash your mom and dad's car while breaking curfew and they immediately give you the silent treatment. In other words, just cuz you haven't been punished yet doesn't mean you won't get grounded.
For Vick, "grounding" will likely come in the form of being kicked off the Falcon's team and possibly having to turn over a portion of his $100+ million dollar contract. Plus, his admission of guilt pretty much means he lied to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell like a "Coach" bag for sale on a Canal St sidewalk.
Vick's also guilty of violating the NFL's conduct policy, big time, making his future in the NFL that much more uncertain. What team would want this kind of drama? Will fans, dog lovers, the media, etc. ever forgive him? Will becoming the girlfriend of some 300 pound inmate who likes to be called "Bertha" kill his spirit and rob him of the moves that made him famous? Only time will tell.
It's probably best we also take this as an opportunity to do a PSA of sorts to athletic stars of the future. DON'T BE STUPID!!! Making millions of dollars as an NFL star means you no longer have to prove how "hard" you are. If your old friends don't accept the new you, then buy new friends!!!! When you feel the urge to do something stupid, reflect on this moment. Thank you.
Dirty Jail Bird
Cappin’ Crunch
It’s the middle of preseason: do you know where your roster spot is? The Saints play their third preseason game tonight against the Cincinnati Bengals. For all those who haven’t yet secured a spot on the lineup...better keep the butterfingers at home. The cuts are about to come fast and furious as every team pares down the roster to the required 53 players before the start of regular season. The New Orleans Saints have many positions still in flux and lots of questions to answer as we approach the first game that counts.
Left His Heart in San Francisco?
It doesn’t seem like tight end Eric Johnson (#82) is missing his former team. Word is that he and Drew Brees have quickly established a tight rhythm on the field and he has already become one of the go-to guys for our fave QB as he goes through his pass progressions. We may see some of this developing chemistry during the first quarter which is slated for plenty-o “Cool Brees” action.
WKRP (Will Kaesviharn Really Produce) in Cinncinnatti?
While Safety Kevin Kaesviharn (#43) prepares to play his former team, we’re left wondering, “Where’s the guy who made 6 interceptions, 58 tackles and 4 sacks with the Bengals last season?” He’s got a compelling test this week against one of the most dynamic receiving duos in the league, Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh (pronounced: Who’s Your Mama). He scrimmaged against them for the last few years so he should be very familiar with their moves and tendencies. This intimate knowledge might give him the edge tonight.
Trade Bait?
Running back Aaron Stecker (#27) is facing some tough competition in his bid to stay with the Saints. Deuce and Reggie are the premier running pair in the NFL so Stecker would be the number three back at best. Plus he’s got rookies Antonio Pittman (#24) and Pierre Thomas (#23) battling hard against him. Stecker, a seven-year veteran, is recognized as a solid, experienced running back and a versatile player thanks to his special team’s expertise. Just the kind of guy the Bengals may be looking for after losing rookie running back Kenny Irons for the whole season when he tore a knee ligament in their first preseason game. Irons was supposed to be the Reggie to Rudi Johnson’s Deuce. The Bengals reportedly have their eye on Stecker to fill the need for a runner who can give them an outside option. Stecker just might be out to impress coaches on both sidelines come game time.
Worth Watching
Rookie Linebackers Marvin Mitchell (#50) and Desmond Sims (#46) were regularly working with the first team defense during drills at training camp. Mitchell, our 7th round draft pick, and Sims, a free agent, are poised to make some key plays against the Bengals’ offensive line which is currently missing both of their starting tackles from last season.
Keep Your Enemies Closer
Tonight the two teams dubbed potentially the Saints biggest competitors in '07 faced off in a nasty preseason battle. Well, it was actually only nasty for one team: the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers looked like Sylvester the Cat in a losing battle with Tweety Bird in their matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Final Score: Panther 10 Eagles 27 (Can someone cue Akon's "Smack That" song?)
The game also signaled Donovan's McNabb return to the field for the first time since a season ending injury in week 11 of 2006. McNabb looked calm, confident...and still bald. He completed six of nine passes for 138 yards and played the entire first quarter. As for former Saint turned Carolina Cajun Jake Delhomme, don't be surprised if fans start calling for him to "geaux" right back to Breaux Bridge after his disappointing first half performance.
On an a side note, did anyone else notice the Eagles Cheerleaders appeared to be auditioning for jobs at Rick's Cabaret? Their "uniforms" consisted of a white bra top and coochie cutters bloomers. If you plan on visiting the Linc this season, make sure you pack a wallet full of dollar bills!
Payton's Posse
If he were a cast member on Grey’s Anatomy, they’d call him McFeisty. Coach Sean Payton earned his title as Coach of the Year not just by leading the Saints to their first NFC Championship appearance but earning the respect the fans and his team. We fell in love with him due largely to his knack for getting in the player’s faces when they seemed to be exhibiting an Aaron Brooks-like IQ. But when it came to strategizing that high-power offense, Payton didn’t pull it all off alone. Today the Chicks salute the men behind the man. (And not in a gay way…not that there’s anything wrong with that…)
Doug Marrone – Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line
Doug Marrone’s first year as Offensive Coordinator was solid gold. The Saints were the #1 offense in the NFL for the first time in team history in 2006. Drew Brees threw for over 4,000 yards which was another team first with a league-high 4,418. Reggie Bush set an NFL record for a rookie running back with 88 catches. And Reggie and Marques Colston combined for their rookie duet record of 158 receptions. In addition to the high level of production and success at the skill positions, Marrone orchestrated a fusion of five new starters on the front line. Jammal Brown, Jahri Evans, Jon Stinchcomb, Jamar Nesbit and Jeff Faine, dubbed The O-Jays, meshed quickly under Marrone’s guidance and gave stellar protection allowing Brees to regularly find an open man. Marrone is considered a strong candidate for a future NFL head coaching position. Saints fans want him to stay right here with us so our offense continues to top the charts for years to come.
Joe Lombardi – Offensive Assistant
He may be a new kid on the block with the Saints’ staff but Joe Lombardi’s got a lifelong connection to NFL greatness. The trophy awarded to the team that wins the Super Bowl is named for his grandfather and football legend, Vince Lombardi. Joe Lombardi played tight end at the United States Air Force Academy and after serving his required four years in the military, the football blood in his veins took over. He recognized that he missed football and decided to pursue a career in coaching. He gained experience coaching offense and defense in his stints with Mercyhurst College, the XFL New York/New Jersey Hitmen, Virginia Military Institute and the University of Dayton. Lombardi’s first NFL coaching gig was last year in Atlanta as a defensive assistant. If the other coaches can forgive him for his short time with the Dirty Birds, we can too! His duties with the Saints include: working with the offense and the quarterbacks and during games he keeps a close eye on opponents' pass coverages from the press box.
Gary Gibbs – Defensive Coordinator
When Sean Payton got the call to take over the 3-13 New Orleans Saints, Gary Gibbs got the nod from Payton. They worked together as part of the Dallas Cowboys coaching squad under Bill Parcells. With Payton in control of the offensive magic, he knew he needed Gibbs to handle the defensive sorcery. Gibbs’ scheming made it possible for the Saints to surrender 17 points or less in half of their regular season games and they gave up 76 points fewer than the year before. The Saints D had 38 sacks and 10 players recorded over 50 tackles. Hopes are high that with the additions of Dhani Jones, Kendrick Clancy, Kevin Kaesviharn and Jason David, Gibbs can keep the defensive mojo working all through the 2007 season and into the playoffs.
Marion Hobby – Defensive Line
In 2006, Marion Hobby was a rookie with the Saints and as an NFL coach. He quickly proved himself by making the Saints’ front four a highly disruptive force to opposing offenses. Defensive ends Will Smith and Charles Grant along with tackles Hollis Thomas and Brian Young were key components in the team’s second place finish in the NFC in fewest first downs allowed (262) and sixth in the league in third-down efficiency allowed (34.7). Will Smith was voted into the Pro Bowl after his standout season thanks in part to his 10.5 sacks; the first defensive end from the Saints to be so honored since 2000. Hobby played three seasons in the early 90’s for the New England Patriots and perfected his coaching technique at colleges all over the South including University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Tennessee, Mississippi and Clemson.
Joe Vitt – Assistant Head Coach/Linebackers
Joe Vitt is the wise man on the Saints staff after being a coach in the NFL for 28 years. He realized that the players and coaches needed to put the success of 2006 behind them. He suggested a jazz funeral so that the group could send out the previous season New Orleans-style and then turn their collective focus to the challenges awaiting them in the new season. Joe Vitt heads into 2007 with his linebacker corps intact. Scott Fujita, Scott Shanle and Mark Simoneau were all new additions to the roster last year. Vitt’s experience and influence helped them become a stalwart and speedy unit that consistently made big plays at crucial moments in key games. The trio made 8.5 sacks and 309 tackles, caught 3 interceptions and forced 3 fumbles. While in Canton for the first preseason game, Vitt brought his linebackers together in the NFL Hall of Fame for a group photo under the bust of linebacking great, Dick Butkus. Vitt’s got a feel for the past but his eye is on the future of a Saints’ team poised for another successful season.
"We're talking about practice man. We're not talking about the game!"
Yes Allen Iverson, we're talking about practice indeed. The Saints and the Bengals hit the field today to face each other in a preseason, pregame matchup. The team's haven't practiced together since we were all counting down to Armageddon in 1999.
You can catch a few of the snaps by heading to the Bengals' website. Although most of what they show is very "Bengals-Centric," you might spy a few glimpses of how our defense held up against the likes of Ocho-Cinco himself, Wide Receiver Chad Johnson. Lest we forget how Johnson burned our corners like toast at an I-Hop during the '06 regular season game.
The trip to Cincy signals the official end of training camp at Millsaps College in Mississippi.
Saints Get a Little Bit Country
Just when you thought Carrie Underwood was the only country star turned NFL groupie...
Kenny Chesney is trading in his boots for cleats, his cowboy hat for a helmet, and his wife beater for a Saints Jersey. The Academy of Country Music’s 2007 Entertainer of The Year will suit up with the Saints for a workout in Cincinnati. Chesney hopes to catch a few passes from Drew Brees on the playing field before performing Thursday night in the Flip Flop Summer Tour.
A few hits by the Saints defense will probably hurt less than his breakup from Renee Zellweger after only four months of marriage in 2005.
Who Dat Say Dey Gonna Steal our Chant? “Who Dey! Who Dey!”
As the Saints prepare for their next preseason game against those Correctional Facility All-Stars known as the Cincinnati Bengals, we find this to be an appropriate time to vent on a long standing feud of the “What came first: chicken or the egg” variety.
While watching an episode of Inside the NFL in 2006, I happened upon a post-game pep rally in the Bengals locker room which involved sweaty, muscle-bound men clad in mere towels. While it was an obvious sensory overload for the eyes, my ears couldn’t help but burn at the sound of a bastardized version of an oh-so familiar chant. “Who dey? Who dey? Who dey think gonna beat them Bengals? NOBODY!” I thought to myself “My beefcakes in towels, why have you forsaken me?”
“Who Dey Think Dey Are?”
Shocked and appalled, I raced to the phone to find anyone else who’d witnessed this blatant display of chant robbery. (And if anybody knows about robbery, it’s the Bengals.) Alas, I discovered that this offense by the Bengals’ Offense was yesterday’s news. Turns out, the Bengals had been spewing their “Who Dey” venom for decades. And not only that, the team claimed to be the inspiration for the Who Dat creed I’d built my entire football fan motto on since I was a wee girl in black and gold booties.
Ain’t “Dat” the Truth
Armed with this new information (new to me at least) I hit the internet in search of not the truth, but ammunition. You see, I knew with 100% confidence that there was no way in Ocho-Cinco’s Mohawk a town known for… (Wait, what the hell is Cincinnati known for?) could come up with such a colorful creed. They’d obviously ripped it off from the Saints well known “Who Dat” chant and made up a lamer version to call their own. All I needed to do now was gather enough information to prove that “Dey are who we thought dey were!”
As I suspected, many before me had been on the case. But the facts never seemed to add up. Here’s what wikipedia had to say about “Who Dey.”
“Although the exact origin of the phrase is disputed, it had been made popular by 1981 in Bengals fans’ cheers for their team during their run to Super Bowl XVI. Some fans would do the chant and other fans would reply, “Nobody!”…One possible source is a 1980 commercial for Red Frazier Ford of Cincinnati, which used this tagline: “Who's going to give you a better deal than Red Frazier? Nobody!” Cincinnati fans who had seen the commercial many times may have just copied it when cheering.
The point of origin that has been disputed on a local Cincinnati radio station is that the phrase came due to a locally distributed beer at the time called Hudepohl. It is said that as beer vendors went up and down aisles at the Bengals games during their first run at the Super Bowl, instead of yelling out "Beer here!" or some other call to let fans know that they had beer, they would yell out "Hudy!" as an abbreviation of Hudepohl.”
Who dat think dat don’t make sense?
Is that a Bengal or a Copycat?
Even if “Who Dey” does trace back to 1981, we know for certain that “Who Dat” originated long before Luke and Laura’s wedding on General Hospital. In fact, “Who Dat’s” been around since long before the Bengals and even the Saints. It actually became a common element in vaudeville acts and minstral shows in the 1800s and early 1900s. Fast forward a few decades, and the cool cats on New Orleans Jazz scene had incorporated it into their everyday vernacular. In the 60s and 70s is where things get sticky. Some say fans would shout out “Who Dat” at games between New Orleans Public High Schools. LSU fans insist the chant started on their campus in the late 70s with the black sports fans chanting “Who!!!” so the crowd could respond “Dat!” Members of the faithful “Who Dat” nation say the chant caught on with Saints fans in the 70s but only gained widespread popularity in the 80s during the Bum Phillips era. There are even claims “Who Dat” can be found on a label of a 70s can of Falstaff Beer.
Who Dat Think this Debate Will Ever End? NOBODY!!!!
Can anyone actually provide hardcore evidence as to the first time a Saints fan chanted “Who Dat” and a Bengals fan chanted “Who Dey?” Unlikely. But do we really need that evidence? “Dat,” “dis,” “dem,” and da rest of the “Butchering the English Language Gang” have been apart of Southern culture since before you could find grits above the Mason Dixon line. I mean c’mon. How many people from Cincinnati do you know who say “Dat” or “Dey” on a daily basis? (Moreover, how many people do you know from Cincinnati?) Clearly a phrase with this much soul had to come from the South.
When it comes right down to it, none of this seemed to matter until both of these teams broke free from obscurity and made it on to the national spotlight. The “Who Deys” admit to having abandoned their cheer during their "Bungals" days. And while “Who Dats” stood strong and chanted loud even in the "Aint's Era," it seems no one was listening.
While the debate rages on, we look forward to a battle where we know there’ll be a clear winner: Saints v Bengals, August 18th at 6:30pm. Who Dat say their blood will curl if they hear a “Who Dey” chant from the stands? Who Dat? Who Dat?
