Watching the Saints, thinking, ‘We miss you Drew’

Dear Drew,

Watching that Bucs/Saints game two weeks ago, it was hard not to think of you. As the Saints struggled mightily on offense, they faced a third-and-long. They didn’t convert. And, it reminded me of a conversation I had with one of your former teammates.

Your teammate said that you and the offense were playing a third-and-4. And, as is custom, the punt team started to line up, including two new Saints who were playing special teams.

“I told them to sit down,” said your former teammate. “I knew we were going to pick up the first down. We had Drew.”

Now, despite a breakout performance last week in a 34-0 shutout of the Patriots, watching the Saints play offense is tedious. When a team goes almost a calendar year without scoring 30 points in a game, that is very bad.

I remember 2011, when you guys dropped 62 points on the Colts, 49 on the Giants, 45 on the Falcons and the Panthers, and 42 on the road at Minnesota. Those were the good old days, when defenses were on their heels, praying that, somehow, on a long drive, the Saints would self-destruct.

I remember your quick decision-making, uncanny anticipation and accuracy in the 99.9 percentile. It was a hoot to watch. A first-ballot Hall of Famer at work.

But, since you’ve been gone, New Orleans has been in a football abyss. Never bad enough to completely rebuild and start over, but also never good enough to be playing into late January.

It used to drive my wife crazy when every year I would tell her not to make any plans until mid-February. She doesn’t like football. She doesn’t understand. It is like telling the British not to like Shakespeare.

Late in your career, I had co-workers telling me, especially after a game on Mondays, that you should retire. It was time for you to hang ’em up. I told them to watch what they were asking for; they might get it.

And, now they have.

Instead of “get crunk” on Sundays at the Superdome, we pay tribute to Jimmy Buffett. It is a nice tribute, but it’s not the same. Touchdowns by the black and gold used to come in bunches; now they are rare occurrences, like an asteroid shower.

I have even thought of going to an astrologer to ask when all of this will be over. When, once again, will the Saints’ offense be feared among NFL teams?

In the meantime, I can still see you making that classic, back-shoulder throw to Marques Colston, fitting the ball in tight coverage to Michael Thomas, throwing a Saints’ signature play – a screen pass to Pierre Thomas.

In the Super Bowl, you were 32 of 39 against the Colts, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. You carved them up. It was like watching open-heart surgery in front of 70,000 in the stadium and millions watching on TV.

I wonder if it will ever be like it used to be. But in the meantime, we can only hope it gets better, fast.

Hope you are well. See you in Canton.

Best, Ed.

Ed Daniels is sports director at ABC26WGNO. [email protected].