blacksaint

Posted by By Jimmy Smith, Staff writer
August 14, 2007 6:02PM

For any of you intrepid fans who might have made the journey to Millsaps College for any part of the Saints training camp, particularly in the last week or so, it might have seemed a tad warm.

All the players could talk about, and even Sean Payton has mentioned it, is how hot it was.

Sorry.

Not even close to arguably the hottest Saints training camp ever.
It was 20 years ago, in Hammond, La., the second year the Saints trained at Southeastern Louisiana University, after spending 1985 in Ruston, La., at Louisiana Tech in the first year of Tom Benson's ownership. He wanted to bring the team closer to all of Louisiana, instead of holding summer camp at Dodgertown, in Vero Beach, Fla.

Anyway, despite those afternoon practices in Ruston, when the temperature on the flashing message board outside the adjacent Tech baseball stadium would often read 105 degrees, Hammond two years later was, by far, hotter.
And far more humid than the players experienced these three-plus weeks in Jackson.

The mercury might have been triple digits - it reached a record high of 106 on Tuesday in Mississippi's capital city - but Hammond was hotter.

And the players felt it.

Then-coach Jim Mora knew only one speed for training camp practice - all out. By the time training camp was over, the Saints were a whipped team. Were it not for the four-week players strike, which afforded the regulars the chance to get their legs back under them, the Saints would have been in serious trouble.

Payton has managed to find just the right mix of rigorous work in the searing heat, knowing when to back off and when to press on.
On Tuesday, he kept the players on the field for just about an hour, in helmets and shorts only.

That will pay dividends later in the season. The Saints will be well-conditioned. Not worn out.

Funny thing. That stifling summer in Hammond forced the Saints to seek another training camp option, farther north, in LaCrosse, Wis. in 1988.

That summer was one of the hottest on record in the midwest.

On the drive from Minneapolis to LaCrosse, all you saw were dead corn fields.
It was so hot, and the Saints caught so off guard, it cost about $50,000 for the team to purchase air conditioning units for the dorms where players, officials and press were housed.

Those who experienced that spent four of the longest nights of their lives in hot dorm rooms.


--Left tackle Zach Strief, filling in for the injured Jammal Brown, was excused from Tuesday afternoon's practice because of a death in the family. No word on when Strief will re-join the team. Filling in at left tackle was rookie Jermon Bushrod.

--Just after the team went through it's customary stretching routine, Payton called the group up to the middle of the field, where he spoke to them. The huddle broke with a huge cheer as players rushed to the scheduled spot on the practice field. Turns out, Payton had given them some good news. "He said we were only going to be on the field for an hour," said defensive tackle Hollis Thomas.

--It appeared that cornerback Mike McKenzie was somewhat limited in a few drills Tuesday afternoon. He's got a tender ankle.

--Wide receiver Jamal Jones seemed to be back in the practice routine after missing nearly two weeks with a sore knee. It will be interesting to see whether Jones participates the next time the Saints put on full gear.

saint4life
(504)