Wednesday, December 21, 2005, 07:29 PM EST
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NFL]
The final votes have been counted and the polls are closed. It's official: the New Orleans Saints have had the worst season in recent memory. And, unfortunately for their fans, there are still two more games left to play.
On the surface, one would think that it would be difficult to have had a worse season than the Minnesota Vikings' 2005 campaign. The 1-3 start was an afterthought once news of the infamous boat party came to light following the team's bye week. To add injury to insult, QB Daunte Culpepper tore three ligaments in his knee during a Week 8 loss to Carolina, ending his season. Miraculously enough, the team proceeded to go on a six-game winning streak with Brad Johnson under center and it is still conceivable that they could make the playoffs this year. So all things considered, the Vikings season hasn't been as bad as it could have been.
The Philadelphia Eagles have had their more than their fair share of problems as well. The Owens and McNabb situations have been well documented in the media, but this season was pretty much doomed from the start. Wide receiver Todd Pinkston tore his Achillies tendon, DE Jerome McDougle was shot in an attempted robbery and kick returner J.R. Reed injured his leg jumping over fences - all before the Eagles took the field for their first preseason contest on August 15. And with 13 guys currently on IR and Detroit Lions' castoff Mike McMahon running the show at quarterback, these last two weeks won't be pretty. Even still, the Eagles have nothing on the Saints.
The story of the New Orleans Saints' 2005 season begins and ends with Hurricane Katrina. For those who were unable to evacuate the city of New Orleans prior to the storm's impact, the Louisiana Superdome was converted into a makeshift shelter. Less importantly, the Superdome also happened to be the place where the Saints called home. The team was already scheduled to travel to Oakland that weekend for a preseason game, so they merely adjusted their travel plans accordingly.
Katrina made landfall in Louisiana on August 29 and left death and destruction in its wake. The storm ripped holes in the Superdome roof and shut down the building's air conditioning and electrical systems. Not only was the stadium no longer suitable for football, it was declared unfit for human living. So as the residents were bused to other emergency shelters, the Saints were left without a place to play.
Real life should always take precedence over sports, so when NFL commisioner Paul Tagliabue decreed that the Saints' first "home game" would be played at Giants Stadium - effectively making it a home game for the "visiting" NY Giants - everyone should have been in agreement. Yet, the Saints still complained. The league was able to use the backdrop of New York City and the support of former Presidents Bush and Clinton to raise millions of dollars for hurricane relief efforts. Yet New Orleans still felt slighted because they were forced to dress in the visitors' locker room. Giants Stadium was merely the first of three home stadiums for the Saints this season - they split their remaining home contents between LSU's Tiger Stadium and San Antonio's Alamodome.
In addition to the unsettled home field situation, starting RB Deuce McAllister was lost for the year during a 52-3 loss to Green Bay in Week 5. So there's no question that the Saints got dealt a bad hand in 2005. But it's safe to say that before this season, there wasn't a chapter in the NFL's disaster recovery handbook on what to do when a team is displaced because of a hurricane. With that in mind, it shouldn't have been too much to ask for the team to be a little more sensitive, given the circumstances.
That was not the case. Although they have contributed greatly to the relief efforts in New Orleans, the team continually finds new ways to anger their fans and the league as a whole. Owner Tom Benson continues to flirt with the possibility of moving the team permanently to San Antonio, while refusing ever to step foot in Tiger Stadium ever again. Quarterback Aaron Brooks - the very definition of erratic play - went off yet again regarding the faux home game in Giants Stadium, saying that in the midst of the pregame ceremonies, he told Tagliabue to "get the hell off the football field." With his 70.0 passing rating and 13-17 TD to INT ratio, Brooks shouldn't be saying too much to anyone these days.
Just this past week, Brooks was benched in favor of Todd Bouman who promptly went out and tossed four interceptions in a 27-10 loss to the Carolina Panthers. In response to Brooks's demotion, Joe Horn went the third-person route in voicing his displeasure, saying: "It's a sad day for Joe Horn because that's the only guy who's been throwing me the ball for the past five, six years." Only when you're 3-11 can you refer to yourself in the third person and have it barely make a blip on the news radar.
Indeed, we should have sympathy for the Saints for all that they've gone through these past four months. But there are far more important things going on in the world than football - Katrina impacted a lot more than just the 53 men on the Saints' roster. So here's to the hope that 2006 is a better year for them and for us all.
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