Since at least the late 1930s, New Orleans has had the nickname, "The City That Care Forgot." This Thanksgiving, lots of people around the country continued to give love and support to the city that was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
In San Antonio, however, the New Orleans Saints have been forgotten. They're orphans. At 2-8 and going nowhere in the NFL, the Saints are one of the saddest sagas of sports. They need help. They need support. They aren't getting much love, and the sad part is that they probably won't.
The Saints, as players, spent Thanksgiving Day in San Antonio realizing few sympathize with their plight. They feel abandoned and rightfully so. Two tones emanate from the voices of many players when you talk to them. They are either depressed or angry.
"Earlier I didn't think playing football, under our circumstances, would be so difficult," Saints wide receiver Joe Horn said. "But, having to reflect on it, I think there are a lot of things we don't have that the home teams have and that wear and tear on our bodies. I'm not making excuses, but it's hard. Mentally and physically it's hard. We just have to go on with it and do it."
In the grand scheme of things, many folks can't grasp the concept of professional athletes making hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars having problems. They have hotel rooms. They have cars. They have jobs. They have futures. All of that is true, and compared to many who lost their homes in New Orleans, they are fortunate. But just because the players and front-office workers have something, it doesn't mean they aren't suffering through trying circumstances. They are.
Two weeks ago at an NFL owners meeting, commissioner Paul Tagliabue and NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw discussed trying to give competitive and financial help to the Saints. Their answers were vague because they're still in the early stages of formulating a plan. There was talk of pulling some bonus money out of the players' "performance-based pay" program in 2006 to give players incentive to sign with the Saints. Maybe offering an extra year of credit toward pensions and severance would help. The league might consider giving the Saints some bonus draft choice help.
Nice thoughts, but it won't be enough. The Saints need to be treated like an expansion franchise. If not, the Saints will struggle to retain players, and this could be a 2-14 squad for a couple of years until its future is sorted out.
It makes me laugh to hear talk that Jim Haslett should get fired. Who in their right mind would take that job? Owner Tom Benson, if he's smart, should be begging Haslett to stay. Haslett's family has put together its house in New Orleans, but Haslett spends all his time in San Antonio trying to coach the Saints.
No top coach is going to volunteer to take on an assignment in which there's so much uncertainty regarding the team's future home and ability to attract free agents. Charitable people operate orphanages to help kids, but no top coach is going to sign up to take on an orphan franchise. To think so is ridiculous. Haslett has to stay if he so wishes.
Speaking of ridiculous, it's the little things that drive Saints players crazy. Look at the Pro Bowl voting. The Saints have good players. LeCharles Bentley is perhaps the NFC's best center, and if he's not better than Olin Kreutz of the Bears, he will be at some point. Bentley dominates at the line of scrimmage. However, recent Pro Bowl voting numbers by fans are stunning. Not a single Saints position player is anywhere close to the top five in voting. With Saints fans in Louisiana either preoccupied or estranged, the Saints don't have a fan voting base. Their new San Antonio fans are just starting to learn the roster and aren't accustomed to voting. Unless the players and coaches vote them in, Saints players can forget about the carrot of going to the Pro Bowl.
Bentley was like most of the Saints players on Thursday. Instead of having a fun family dinner on Thanksgiving, he headed back to his hotel room to watch football games. His house, friends and cars are in New Orleans. He's seen them once since the hurricane. He had to buy a car to drive around San Antonio. He negotiated his own hotel room rate, but the bills from his services and his mortgage from Louisiana keep coming.
"It doesn't bother me," a subdued Bentley said. "You just try to get by."
Thanksgiving is when all their frustrations are hitting home because they don't have homes. What makes matters worse is that if they do complain, they are considered to be spoiled athletes. That's wrong. Players are people. Sure, their jobs pay well. But their careers could end on the next play. Just because they have more doesn't mean they can't fret over their losses.
On Wednesday, Horn blasted Tagliabue for not visiting the team in San Antonio. Ultimately, it was a headline and nothing else. Folks didn't listen to his words. Horn isn't blaming Tagliabue for the plight of the Saints, but he's using the commissioner as a verbal target to express the frustration of every Saints player. Everyone has forgotten them.
"The reality is that we are humans and we have families that don't play football," Horn said. "They have to go to school. They have to wake up in the morning and wonder where they are going to be the next day. The least they can do is resolve this mess. Let us stay here. If we are going to stay in Texas, then damn it let us stay in Texas. If we are going to Louisiana then, hey, let's do that. The players, we love our fans in Louisiana and we're still hurting that we had to leave there. But tell us something."
Unfortunately, there is no plan for the Saints. The Superdome won't be ready for any possible play until November of next year, and that might be a reach. The team could train back in Metairie, La., next season, but they will either have to play in San Antonio or Baton Rouge.
Trust me, unless the league and the union helps, players aren't going to sign into this situation next year. Some agents are already telling the team they are advising their clients not to enter such an uncertain situation. Even worse, the team has no idea what kind of budget it can have for next season without knowing where it will play.
The Saints had to refund tickets from the 2005 season. That's anticipated to be a $20 million loss. With much more pressing issues following the hurricane, the state of Louisiana was unable to make its $15 million payment to the team as part of a 10-year agreement between the two parties. Insurance may cover a good portion of those losses, but the high cost of temporarily relocating to San Antonio still hasn't been tabulated.
Remember, insurance won't cover losses for next season, and the Saints have no chance of being a profitable team in 2006. The NFL is right in giving New Orleans every chance to keep the Saints, but this could be a two- or three-year process before anyone knows whether the city could realistically keep the franchise.
Initially, I thought the idea of giving cap breaks and financial incentives to the team and players was a competitive disadvantage. After about 20 minutes of thinking through the situation, I realized the Saints are worse than an expansion franchise. An expansion franchise can build. They could build through the draft. They could build through free agency. They would have a fan base. The Saints won't have any of the above.
The Saints can only deflate. Free agents will leave unless something is done. The roster can only get thinner. Try talking to a free agent. Where do you tell him to buy a home? Is he signing to play in San Antonio, New Orleans or eventually Los Angeles?
On the field, having a relatively noncompetitive Saints team could create imbalance in the NFC for the next few years. NFC South rivals would have better chances of higher seeds in the playoffs and securing the wild-card spots if they can count on beating the Saints twice every year. It would put NFC East, North and West teams at a disadvantage.
The problem is figuring out what to give the Saints, and that's tough. Whatever they give probably isn't going to be enough. The NFL and Benson need a plan. They need to figure out next season's schedule in January, so Saints officials have a chance.
John Clayton is a senior writer for ESPN.com.