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Greer says New Orleans was best possible option

By BRETT MARTEL, AP Sports Writer Sep 24, 8:43 pm EDT

METAIRIE, La. (AP)—Jabari Greer(notes) rattles off the names of Frenchmen Street music clubs with unusual ease for someone who hasn’t been in the Big Easy for long.

It’s one example of what the Saints’ new starting cornerback is talking about when he says signing with New Orleans “was by far the best possibility for me.”

“It’s been incredible and the city of New Orleans, man, everybody knows I love jazz,” Greer said after practice this week. “On and off the field, it was just a perfect fit. It was what I was looking for.”

That’s not to say Greer didn’t fit in at Buffalo, where he spent his first five seasons—and where, incidentally, the Saints will be playing on Sunday.


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• “That was a team that gave me an opportunity when nobody drafted me. … I’m grateful for it,” said Greer, who Buffalo signed as a rookie free agent out of Tennessee in 2004.

“Some of my closest friends that I’ve grown in the league with are still there, so it will be great to see them,” Greer said. “It will be even better to compete with them, because any time you get to compete with some of your close friends, that brings the level of competition up even higher. … Not only do you want to win, you don’t want (them) to win.”

Greer made major strides in his last two seasons with the Bills, starting 23 games and intercepting four passes—including two last season that he returned for touchdowns.

“We really love Jabari Greer. He was a terrific player for us, first of all, on special teams and as a starting corner,” Bills head coach Dick Jauron said. “Obviously, he’s got athletic skills and has a great attitude and an interesting and great personality. So we look forward to seeing him—just wish he wasn’t opposite from us. … He’s a tremendous young person.”

Yet, after the Bills drafted cornerback Leodis McKelvin(notes) in 2008, Buffalo no longer needed Greer as badly as the Saints, a team looking to make changes in a defensive backfield lambasted for giving up too many big plays last season.

So Greer played out the last year of his contract in Buffalo and moved on to New Orleans, where he is now regarded as the team’s top cornerback.

“He’s come in and played with confidence,” Saints head coach Sean Payton said. “He can run well. He’s got good anticipation. … He’s someone that has really fit in well in his first year here.”

Greer is one of several members of the Saints with former ties to Buffalo, including defensive tackle Anthony Hargrove(notes) and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who was the Bills’ head coach from 2001-03.
Williams said he’s curious to see how Greer handles his emotions upon returning to Buffalo.

“I’ve been teasing him all week long about: ‘Which ones are your untouchable friends? Which are the ones that we’re going to go up and hug and kiss and which are the ones that we’re going to go out there and smack?”’ Williams said. “So, it will be interesting to see him play this week.”

The Saints have been getting informal scouting reports from Greer about some of Buffalo’s personnel this week. Greer said he’s certain the Bills intend to counter his knowledge of their squad and to try to exploit their knowledge of him.

“They know that I know who I’m playing,” Greer said, grinning. “I know their personnel. … I’m sure they’re doing something to game-plan me, to say, ‘What used to get Jabari in practice?’ So this is just one of those games where, you know, I’m looking at them, they’re looking at me, and y’all are looking at us—and it’s fun.”

Beyond the football field, fun for Greer often involves live jazz. The musical genre captivated him one summer when he was 13 and playing old records he found in the garage of his family’s home in Tennessee. The Ohio Players, John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Marvin Gaye were among the performers who got him hooked.

Greer said he has long been fascinated by other aspects of New Orleans as well, from the food to the old architecture to the festivals and the way people interact.

“The culture around here—it seems so different than anywhere else in the world, anywhere else I’ve ever been,” Greer said.

Now if Greer can help the normally hard-luck Saints establish a winning culture, he’ll have really found his Shangri-La.

NOTES: Saints leading rusher Mike Bell(notes) (sprained right knee) did not practice for a second-straight day. Payton said he could potentially be replaced by Lynell Hamilton(notes) on Sunday. Pierre Thomas(notes), who practiced, is another option. … WR Lance Moore(notes) (right hamstring) and DT Kendrick Clancy(notes) (right knee) also sat out practice.

Greer says New Orleans was best possible option - NFL - Yahoo! Sports

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