Plenty of Saints are still playing, and two more are deserving of a Pro Bowl trip
It seems the New Orleans Saints — the first 13-win team to lose on Wildcard Weekend — are playing in a bowl after all.
At least a good portion of them.
Yep, 10 of your beloved Black and Gold heroes will participate in Sunday’s NFL Pro Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, just up the road from the site of Super Bowl LIV on Feb. 2 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.
The Pro Bowl (2 p.m., ESPN) is the league’s annual padded friendly between the best available players in the AFC and NFC.
The operative words here are “friendly’‘ and “available.’‘
n Friendly: I consider preseason games to be nothing more than “glorified scrimmages’‘ but at least the participants are playing real football. The Pro Bowl is a poor excuse for an all-star game; always has been. It’s deteriorated into a weekend flag football game played by pros that consists of more sizzle than steak and kills time between the conference championships and Super Bowl Sunday.
n Available: Some players opt out because of lingering injuries while others from the San Francisco 49ers (15-3) and Kansas City Chiefs (14-4) are tied up with more important matters like trying to win the Lombardi Trophy for themselves, their organizations and their fan bases.
The only thing missing from the Pro Bowl is for the players to stroll down the red carpet during pre-game introductions with wives, girlfriends and family members as their walk-up song blares out over the stadium PA system.
Simply, of all the all-star games, the Pro Bowl is my least favorite to watch and I love the NFL.
OK, I’ll come down off my soapbox.
Seven Saints were voted to the original NFC squad: five starters (wide receiver Michael Thomas, defensive end Cameron Jordan, cornerback Marshon Lattimore, kicker Wil Lutz, return specialist Deonte Harris) and two backups (quarterback Drew Brees, left tackle Terron Armstead).
Lattimore on Tuesday declined the invitation to play citing an undisclosed injury.
Four more Saints have been named alternates (tight end Jared Cook, running back Alvin Kamara and guards Andrus Peat and Larry Warford).
Only the Baltimore Ravens have more (13) in the game.
At least two other Saints are worthy of being on the NFC squad — right tackle Ryan Ramczyk and middle linebacker Demario Davis. As of today, neither has been named as an alternate but the roster remains fluid.
Each member of the winning team will pocket $70,000; each losing member $35,000. In fact, each winning member in the Pro Bowl will be compensated better than each losing member in Super Bowl LIV ($62,000).
Congrats to each of the 11 Saints in the Pro Bowl. That franchise-record number should serve as a reminder of the Super Bowl-caliber roster General Manager Mickey Loomis, Coach Sean Payton and their entire football operations have assembled in New Orleans.
But Orlando is not Miami Gardens.
Not even close.
On Super Bowl Sunday, the 49ers and Chiefs will be playing big-boy football, unlike the playground ball that takes place on Pro Bowl Sunday.
This story was originally published January 21, 2020 at 4:00 AM.