As if adapting to life without Drew Brees wasn’t enough, the New Orleans Saints must now travel from their temporary training home in Texas to Florida to play their regular season opener, which was originally planned for New Orleans.
Displaced by Hurricane Ida, they will play their home opener against Green Bay in Jacksonville, Florida on September 12 after practicing in Dallas for nearly two weeks – a scenario reminiscent of their 2005 displacement season after Hurricane Katrina struck.
The NFL announced the venue change three days after Ida struck the Louisiana coast as a Category 4 hurricane, leaving all of New Orleans in the dark until small parts of the city were restored to power on Wednesday.
“Know what’s going on back there [in New Orleans] and that we can’t be there to help, that’s kind of worrying, “said Alvin Kamara, a retreating saint.” But we’re doing what we can. “
While the Superdome appears to have weathered the storm in decent shape, there are logistical challenges in casting an NFL game there due to widespread wind damage in the metropolitan area and mass evacuations both before and after the severe storm.
After the opener, the Saints have street games in Carolina and New England before their next home game against the New York Giants on October 3rd. Two more street games and their farewell week follow before hosting reigning Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay on October 31st.
“It is sometimes difficult to focus on when there is so much going on and so many people are affected. But at the end of the day we have a job to do,” said Kamara. “We just have to keep moving and find ways to fight it and stay focused.”
Packer’s general manager Brian Gutekunst admitted that his team played no part in the decision to play in Jacksonville, which is in Houston on September 12th.
“I don’t think we had much to say,” he said. “I think they obviously worked with us, but I think since this is a home game in New Orleans it wasn’t much to say from our point of view.”
Packers trainer Matt LaFleur did his best to “Everyone in New Orleans”, adding:
“This is a bad deal they’re going through so we’re going to adjust, and I think yes there are some adjustments … some positives that it probably won’t be quite as loud. But the negativity is that it is heavy is, “simulate that kind of heat, so our guys have to do a great job all week keeping their bodies hydrated and taking care of them.”
The Saints evacuated New Orleans to North Texas before the storm and trained at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, this week. They are staying in Texas for training next week and will travel to Jacksonville the day before the season kicks off.
“We have a solid plan for the next week of preparation. We have a place to practice and a place to stay for our team,” said General Manager Mickey Loomis. “I don’t think there is anything special playing on the road if we have to do week 1 this week because we will be doing week 2 this week and week 3. So it’s going to be a normal road trip, it’s just out of here . “
Ida arrived exactly 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. The Saints were forced to relocate for the entire 2005 season and set up operations in San Antonio while playing home games there and in Baton Rouge at LSU. After New Orleans won their season opener in Carolina that season, he lost his “home opener” at Giants Stadium and then languished through a 3-13 campaign that led to the dismissal of then coach Jim Haslett.
Spurred on by the rapid restoration of the Superdome, the Saints won 10-6 and won NFC South in 2006, Sean Payton’s first season as coach and Brees ‘first of 15 seasons as New Orleans’ QB.
In the 2009 season, the Saints won their first Super Bowl, with Brees, the game’s MVP, with damage from Katrina’s widespread flooding that was still lingering in different parts of town. From there, the city’s recovery continued to pick up, with the ever-popular Brees and the Saints at the center of fundraising and community service projects to help advance reconstruction.
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