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Injured Saints sideline official discusses his recovery, Alvin Kamara's gift, more

Nick Piazza, who is a teacher by day, has worked on the Saints' sideline for nine years

BY JEFF DUNCAN | Sports columnist Dec 7, 2023

During his nine years as a member of the Saints chain crew, Nick Piazza has learned to keep his head on a swivel during games. But despite his vigilance, he never had a chance on Sunday.

One instant, Alvin Kamara was racing toward him on the sideline. The next, Piazza was lying face-first on the Superdome turf, his left leg grotesquely contorted sideways at the knee, intense pain shooting through his body.

In a split-second, Piazza’s world literally turned upside down. He went from anonymous sideline observer to celebrity. A day that began routinely with a 10 a.m. check-in at the Superdome ended in the emergency room at University Hospital.

“I never thought anything like this would happen to me,” Piazza said.

I reached Piazza on Wednesday night at his home in Harvey, where he was recuperating from the accident with members of his family. During a 40-minute phone conversation, he described the life-changing sequence of events that took place late in the second quarter of the Detroit Lions' 33-28 victory over the Saints.

Piazza’s job on Sunday was to position the bright red mat and pylon marker on the line to gain at the end of the 10-yard first down chain. The pylon contains a camera for the FOX national TV broadcast. It’s a mostly thankless job that tends to get handed down from generation to generation. Piazza’s uncle, Tony Piazza, worked on the crew from the Saints’ inception and was inducted into the Saints Hall of Fame in 2014. The tradeoff to the $50-a-game paycheck is the front-row vantage point to some of the world’s finest athletes.

“I’ve always loved the Saints,” Piazza said. “There’s nothing better than being right there.”

With 6:03 left in the second quarter on Sunday, the Saints trailed the Lions 21-7 and broke the huddle for a third-and-3 play at their own 17-yard line. Piazza was positioned in his usual spot on the sideline, a few yards behind the pylon marker. Kamara took a pitch from quarterback Derek Carr and sprinted left toward the Lions sideline, where Lions linebacker Derrick Barnes lowered his shoulder into his back and shoved him toward the boundary. The force of the blow sent Kamara careening headfirst toward the sideline.

In the mad scramble, down judge Jerod Phillips temporarily blocked the vision of Piazza, who, by now, had instinctively backpedaled a good 6 yards from the playing field. As Phillips ducked out of the way, Piazza’s worst nightmare was revealed: Kamara was flying right at him, low and hot. Piazza lowered his arms to brace for the impact, then, at the last second, tried to leap over the free-falling Kamara.

“I mistimed my jump,” Piazza said.

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