Saints Nation: Saints Roundup

I’d like to apologize for my ridiculous lack of posting the last few days. Between having a 6 month old, my real job, and family in town for Thanksgiving, things got hectic. At this point in the season with the Saints at 8-3, there is no excuse for it! I do update my TWITTER PAGE and FACEBOOK PAGE daily, so make sure you check those out too for updated Saints Nation material. I’m hooking you guys up with one big huge post today covering all the notable stuff I missed in recent days.

1. Drew Brees has been named SI Sportsman of the Year. This is a terrific accomplishment that says a tremendous amount about Brees as an athlete, person and more. He will receive the award tonight at a ceremony in New York City. Past recipients include Derek Jeters, Michael Phelps, Brett Favre, Tom Brady, Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods, Mark McGwire, Cal Ripken Jr., Michael Jordan, Joe Montana, Arthur Ashe, Joe Paterno, Wayne Gretzky, Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Arnold Palmer just to name a few. Needless to say he’s the first New Orleans Saint to ever win the award, and he’s only the 8th person in pro football to win the award. At some point the awards have to stop, but I have no problem reliving the Super Bowl victory over and over again. It’s up to the players to move on from last year and focus on the task at hand, not us as fans. Brees’ story is one of tremendous will , perserverence and faith – and it’s great that it’s getting so much national exposure. If you’re interested in reading more about Brees’ story, I highly recommend his book, “Coming Back Stronger”. I can’t think of anyone more deserving of this award than Brees. Congratulations Drew, we are lucky as fans and as a city to have found you when we needed you the most, and I know the feeling is mutual.

2. Will Smith was arrested for domestic violence over the weekend. You can click on the story for the details, but allegedly, a cop saw him pull his wife’s hair at around 2am outside of some club. Personally, when I first heard the news, I was SHOCKED. Will Smith has always been a class guy since he joined the league/Saints, and I have always had the utmost respect for him. I’ve been following and writing about the Saints, and I’ve met and interviewed several of the players over the years. This isn’t a case of another spoiled athlete with questionable character beating his wife, in my opinion. Don’t get me wrong, that kind of behavior is dispicable, and no man should ever hit or hurt a woman. I typically never post on player’s personal lives because I think those are personal matters better left for the media to cover. I’m not a big fan of targeting players and exposing their private life shortcomings. In this case, though, I had to speak up because I know that Will Smith is a guy with the utmost character and that while he could have made a mistake he’s a quality person.

Big Will’s wife, Racquel Smith, posted the following on her twitter page:

“Ugh! SUch a huge misunderstanding! My husband and I are fine and this was all bs. Please allow the legal system to take its course”

“I feel bad for my husband who is innocent in all of this and all my family. Pray for my family and don’t pass judgement.”

“We are are strong couple, Love conquers all and thats what we have. Its just so sad that he is in the public eye and everything is magnified. I love you @iwillsmith! Please who dat fans support our family through this time.”

Based on the comments she made, I think we as Saints fans should take it easy on Will Smith. He is part of the Who Dat family and people make mistakes. If his wife isn’t critical of his behavior, then we shouldn’t be either. If he was guilty of really trying to hurt her or abuse her, she could have said nothing or blasted him publicly. Of course, there are women who will stand by their man no matter what, but at the end of the day none of us really know what happened and I think it’s good to keep personal matters like this up to the people that lead their private lives. As Saints fans I know some of you have had negative comments about Smith, but I urge you to follow Racquel’s advice to not judge a book by it’s cover. Will Smith is a quality person that (hopefully) just got caught up in a sticky situation. I truly believe that. Best of luck to both Will, Racquel, and their family while they go through this difficult patch that will hopefully only make them stronger in the long run. We support you!

3. The Atlanta Falcons just keep winning. They now have the best record in the NFL at 9-2, which is just ridiculous based on the amount of close games they’ve had. They beat the Packers this week, squeaking out with a 3 point win thanks to a last second field goal. At least Tampa lost, so the Saints are now in full possession of 2nd place in the NFC South. I’ve had a lot of questions about the tiebreaking scenario. If Atlanta and the Saints end up with the same record, Atlanta will win the division even if the Saints beat them in their next game. I’ll spare you the tie breaking scenarios for another separate post down the road (maybe next week after we have more clarity), but the gist is if they have the same record, regardless of how that happens, the Falcons will end up ahead of the Saints. So we need them to lose AT LEAST one game besides the one in which we play them. The good news is Atlanta plays at Tampa Bay this weekend. An Atlanta win distances Tampa further from us, while a Tampa win puts us into a tie with Atlanta record wise. Either scenario would be nice, though an Atlanta loss is obviously ideal. The Saints of course have to take care of business and win on the road against a grossly underperforming Cincinnati Bengals team.

4. Last but not least, this isn’t Saints related, but I leave you with a video. Derek Anderson, quarterback of the Arizona Cardinals, flipped out on a media member yesterday. Why didn’t the media attack Aaron Brooks like this when he would smile on the sidelines after a loss? Anyway, the reaction is priceless. Enjoy!