Ken Stabler remembers his Saints years

Former Alabama and NFL quarterback Ken Stabler didn’t spend his best years with the New Orleans Saints, but he has fond memories of his days there. Playing for the Saints as a backup in 1982-84, Stabler and coach Bum Phillips helped the woeful franchise reach the verge of the playoffs for the first time – only to fall short.

Letlow: What do you remember about your playing days with the New Orleans Saints?
Stabler: Oh, I had a great time. I was worn out when I got there. My best days were behind me as a player. But being with Bum was the most important thing. I played for him in Houston in ‘80 and ‘81. Bum retired and I retired. Bum got the New Orleans job and he called me and said, ‘Why don’t you come down here? We need a veteran backup player. You probably won’t play much. We’ll get some horses and go out to Jefferson Downs and the Fairgrounds and have a lot of fun with horses.’

I went and played with him and for the fans and city of New Orleans and had a great, great time. I lived on a golf course resort out in Metairie area and loved every minute.

But as a player, I was a backup. I was 35, 37 years old. My better days were behind me as a player.

Letlow: After playing most of your career with the Oakland Raiders, that was as close to home as you ever played professionally, right?
Stabler: I tried to get back closer to home. The trade with Houston, when (Dan) Pastorini went to Oakland and I went to the Oilers -- just getting back in the Southeast and Texas and Louisiana was fun. I didn’t have the same team around me and I wasn’t the same player myself.

New Orleans had gone through struggles forever. We came within a field goal of being a .500 football team. We finished 7-9, and the Rams beat us with a field goal. We would have been a .500 team and made the playoffs.

Letlow: What do you think about the Saints now?
Stabler: I watch the Saints. I watch pro football. That was such a neat story down there. I live in Mobile, and they have a lot of fans down there. You keep up with them and want to see them do good – for the franchise and the city. That team has a lot to do with people’s frame of mind.

Steve McNair's final game at Grambling State

The death of retired NFL quarterback Steve McNair summoned personal memories for me.

Early in my career as a journalist, I had the chance to interview McNair one-on-one in the summer before his senior year at Alcorn State. We talked in a hotel lobby in Shreveport, a stop for McNair as part of the old Southwestern Athletic Conference tour. I remember his huge hands and a humble demeanor, even as we mulled his Heisman chances. A couple of months later, on Sept. 3, 1994, I had the privilege of watching McNair play at Grambling State in a game that became part of Eddie Robinson’s lore. In an amazing offensive display by both teams, Grambling prevailed 62-56. Robinson later called it one of the most memorable wins in his own career.

GRAMBLING -- Grambling State’s love-hate relationship with Steve “Air II” McNair came to a rollicking finish Saturday night at Robinson Stadium.

It couldn’t have ended any better for the Tigers in front of a home crowd of 25,347. Grambling quarterback Kendrick Nord out dueled McNair, passing for 485 yards and seven touchdowns as the Tigers held on for a 62-56 win over the Braves.

“I didn’t come here to compete with McNair,” Nord said. “I came to win.”

In terms of raw numbers, McNair had the upper hand. He completed 27-of-52 passes for 534 yards and five touchdowns and rushed for 99 yards and another score. His 633 yards were 10 off the Division I-AA record for total offense. But in a change of fortunes for McNair, he couldn’t produce the magic that had made him 3-0 against Eddie Robinson during his college career.

“He’s just a great athlete,” Robinson said. “It’s a bittersweet win for us.” Known for his last-second heroics, McNair had one final shot at rallying his team to an unprecedented fourth consecutive victory over Grambling.

Trailing by six points with 1:39 left in the game, the senior quarterback moved his team from the Alcorn 37 to Grambling’s 11 and had two shots at the end zone. On third-and-10 with four seconds remaining, McNair’s pass went through the arms of receiver Percy Singleton.

“He hit the kid right in the numbers offensive coordinator Ricky Taylor said. “All he had to do was hang on. Then we kick the extra point and win the game.”

On the game’s final snap, McNair scrambled right and fired a bullet to fullback Tony Bullock in the right corner of the end zone, but freshman Christopher Singleton broke up the play as time expired. “Their defensive end got the jump up field and rushed us out of the pocket,” Taylor said. “He forced us to one side f the field and that cut down on our chances.”

Grambling took the lead for good with nine minutes left in the game. Nord capped a five-play, 65-yard drive with a 25-yard scoring pass to Curtis Ceasar. The two teams combined for 1,318 yards total offense, as Grambling rolled up 612 and Alcorn gained 706. Grambling wingback Tyronne Jones caught six passes for 157 yards and three touchdowns, and Ceasar had five catches for 144 yards and three touchdowns.

Turnovers were the biggest culprit for Alcorn. Grambling cornerback Akili Johnson intercepted two McNair passes and recovered a fumble by running back Harry Brown.

The game was billed as a matchup for the ages. The strapping young Heisman hopeful versus the legend played out in front of a braying crowd.

The Alcorn State quarterback was a consistent pain for Robinson in three prior meetings, whipping the Tigers in every fashion possible during his college career. In prior outings, McNair’s feats left Grambling slack-jawed, frustrated and crowing about next year.

But the game was for more than just bragging rights between bitter rivals. Forget for a moment that Alcorn coach Cardell Jones was trying to become the first to play Robinson four times and remain undefeated.

Also put aside the fact that the Braves could have joined Jackson State as the only schools to defeat Grambling four consecutive years. This was a meeting of two early favorites for the SWAC title.

With the win, Grambling moved to the forefront of what should be a great race. Alcorn is relegated to playing catch-up.

"Now every weekend, we’ve got to sit back and see what Grambling does,” said Alcorn’s Marcus Hinton, who caught nine passes for 184 yards. This hurts. But we did all we could and we left it on the field.”