New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com - Guerry Smith Chris Ivory an even more amazing story for Saints than you think

The Chris Ivory story morphed from inspiring to miraculous somewhere between the time he broke the first tackle on an apparently innocuous swing pass against San Diego and when he carried the last defender over the goal line for a 76-yard touchdown.

Ivory, who had game highs in rushing and receiving as the Saints beat the Chargers 36-21 on Friday night at the Superdome, is not just another free-agent running back find for coach Sean Payton and his staff. If he makes the final roster – a virtual certainty at this point – he could be one of the most unlikely contributors in recent NFL history.

Consider the evidence:

Ivory rushed for 757 yards in his college career. He started four games in three injury-plagued years at Washington State before getting kicked off the team last August, a decision he said stemmed from his being late to a couple of meetings and missing a practice. He transferred to Division II Tiffin University in Ohio and rushed for 223 yards before suffering a season-ending leg injury in the fifth game.

Tiffin went 0-11 and was outscored 440-153. Washington State went 2-11 in 2008 and was outscored 570-165.

Yet, there was Ivory, turning in the play of the game against the Chargers after turning heads with his hard-nosed running style from day 1 of Saints training camp. With the Saints leading 20-14, he refused to go down after catching a short pass from backup quarterback Patrick Ramsey.

Drew Brees watched with amazement from the sideline.

“We actually busted an assignment on it,” Brees said. “We were supposed to have a guy out there blocking for him, and he ends up making that guy miss, then running over another guy and cutting back and stiff-arming a guy halfway down the field and fighting his way to the end zone.”

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