There is a whole lot in this world that means more than sports, but every once in a while, sports take on a far greater meaning because of what else is going on in the world. Unfortunately, too often this is the case only after tragedy strikes, and in late-August 2005, tragedy struck the city of New Orleans, the state of Louisiana, and the entire Gulf Coast region when Hurricane Katrina became one of the deadliest, costliest and most destructive storms ever recorded.
The cost of the storm was absolutely staggering, and by that I don’t just mean the $125 billion in damage it did, most of which was in the city of New Orleans. No, the most appalling cost were the thousands of lives lost and the millions of people who were displaced from their homes.
To this day, the city remains in a state of recovery, and come every hurricane season, the entire region can’t help but be reminded of the horrors of the past, with the threat of another instance of a Katrina-like storm looming for three long months. But starting in late August, every weekend there’s an opportunity to escape, even if it is just for three hours at a time.
Football, both professional and collegiate, provides various communities an opportunity to come together. In some areas of the country, it goes beyond that. As legendary head coach Vince Lombardi once put it, “Football is not just a game but a way of life.” The state of Louisiana is one of those places where this statement rings true, and this year the entire community will be rallying behind its teams, and if you don’t think the New Orleans Saints, the LSU Tigers and the Tulane Green Wave are feeling this, well, I don’t know what else to say but bless your heart.
New Orleans Saints Enter 2025 Low Expectations, But Eying a ‘Bounce Back’
Nobody expects that the New Orleans Saints will compete for a postseason berth in 2025, let alone finish the season with a winning record. With a new head coach, an unproven quarterback, two injury prone receivers and an aging roster, things look bleak. But it probably goes without saying that crazier things have happened.
First-year head coach Kellen Moore is receiving positive reviews on the eve of the season, and he made two fairly interesting additions to his coaching staff months back when he got the job. Terry Joseph, the Saints defensive pass game coordinator, has never coached in the NFL until now. And Chase Haslett, New Orleans’ tight ends coach, only has five years of NFL experience under his belt.
But what Joseph and Haslett both have is a connection with the city of New Orleans, and memories of Hurricane Katrina.
Chase Haslett, the son of former Saints head coach Jim Haslett, remembers evacuating New Orleans with his family ahead of Hurricane Katrina. He was 13 years old at the time, and has vivid memories of the days before the storm hit.
“I still remember specifically the dogs and cats being left on the side of the road. People didn’t want to or couldn’t bring their pets with them. …It was not a fun experience,” Chase Haslett told Katherine Terrell of ESPN.com. “It felt like a freaking war scene to some extent.”
Terry Joseph grew up in New Orleans, but moved out of state in 2006 and hadn’t come back until this year, when Kellen Moore requested he join his staff. In 2005, Joseph was coaching at nearby Destrehan High School. He too evacuated in the days leading up to Katrina, but only got as far north as Ruston, Louisiana. For two weeks, Joseph, his wife and their children sat in a hotel room, unable to get in contact with other members of their family.
“You’re hearing about the horrific scene in the Superdome,” Joseph said. “And then the toughest thing: Cellphones were not as sophisticated. So the signal was very, very bleak. And so you lost contact with a lot of people.”
You’d have to assume that Chase Haslett or Terry Joseph have shared their Katrina stories with their Saints players over the last few days, but even if they haven’t there’s a certain city-wide resilience that is embedded into their DNA that will surely resonate with the team when times get rough this season.
“We’ll always bounce back, no matter the circumstance,” Chase Haslett said. “That was the lowest of lows, but the city’s gone up since then, so we’ll always bounce back.”
LSU and Tulane Earn High-Profile Wins on Anniversary of Katrina
It’s not just the Saints that will be playing with the entire state of Louisiana behind them this year. In the south, college football arguably means more than pro football does, and on Saturday, two of the state’s biggest college football programs earned big time victories on national TV.
In primetime, the LSU Tigers went into Clemson’s Death Valley as an underdog, but emerged with a hard-fought 17-10 victory over one of the preseason favorites to win the National Title. Now LSU, ranked 9th in the country heading into the game, is sure to shoot up the rankings when they’re released on Monday. Perhaps it’s just a coincidence, but LSU did win the National Title one season after Katrina hit. Maybe 2025 will be the next championship the Tigers bring home.
Earlier in the afternoon, Tulane hosted Big Ten opponent Northwestern and took care of business to the tune of a 23-3 victory over the Wildcats. Interestingly, most of the drama occurred before the game, when the Green Wave had requested to wear white uniforms at home to honor the 2005 Tulane team that did the same in their first game after Katrina, but were denied the opportunity by Northwestern.
After the game, Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall — who has Gulf Coast roots, having been born in Huntsville, Alabama — addressed the win, and defiantly sent a message about his team and the pride they were playing with representing the state of Louisiana on this anniversary weekend.
Don’t disrespect the city of New Orleans, and don’t count them out either. They’ll always bounce back.
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