The New Orleans Saints’ 5-foot-9, 196-pound kicker is diminutive by NFL standards. His baby face and big brown eyes make him look 23 going on 18.
You’d walk past him on the street or stand next to him in the checkout line at the grocery store and never know he was the guy who just kicked the Saints into the Super Bowl.
He wears his blonde hair in spikes and leans toward X Games fashion: T-shirts, hoodies, conductor hats and knit caps.
Chris Granger/The Times-Picayune
His unassuming demeanor makes him fade into the background on a Saints roster loaded with stars such as Drew Brees, Darren Sharper, Jeremy Shockey and Reggie Bush.
“I’m just the 5-foot-9 guy walking around with long hair that looks like a surfer dude, ” Hartley said. “People tell me I need to get a suit for interviews.”
The New Orleans Saints said Friday evening they were releasing another 600 Super Bowl tickets for sale.
Here’s the statement from the team:
“New Orleans Saints Owner Tom Benson is glad to announce another 600 Super Bowl XLIV tickets were made available to purchase by the next 300 season ticket holders from the club’s weighted lottery earlier this week.
The Saints’ initial allocation of 4,000 tickets for the Super Bowl were made available this week for season ticket holders to purchase.
The 300 season ticket holders will be notified by the telephone number and/or email address listed on their account immediately. Season ticket holders can also check their account at the account manager portal at NewOrleansSaints.com.
Recipients were chosen through a weighted lottery – the same procedure the club has used for past Super Bowl ticket purchases. It is based on the number of years as a season ticket holder, and by the number of seats in the account.
The face value of tickets is $800. Seat locations were assigned by the lottery. The deadline to pick up the tickets from the Saints’ Metairie Facility is Monday, Feb. 1 at 6pm, and must be paid for by cashier’s check.”
Back in training camp, “Monday Night Football” analyst and former NFL coach Jon Gruden spent several days with the Saints. New Orleans coach Sean Payton let his friend and former co-worker with the Eagles sit in on offensive meetings and spend a lot of time with quarterback Drew Brees.
Gruden still hasn’t stopped talking about Brees. In a conference call with the national media Thursday, Gruden continued to rave about Brees.
New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton said the national media is making too much out of the “remember me” comments defensive coordinator Gregg Williams made to a Nashville radio station about how the Saints want to hit Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning.
Williams, whose defense has battered Kurt Warner and Brett Favre in the playoffs, told the radio station that the Saints plan to rattle Manning by hitting him at every opportunity with the hope of knocking the league MVP out of the game.
“This guy’s got a great clock in his head,” Williams told 104.5 The Zone. “The big thing is that he throws the ball so early that we’re going to have to do a good job of finding ways to get to him, and when we do get to him we’re going to have to make sure he gets a couple ‘remember me’ shots when we get there.”
Payton said the comments were no big deal.
“I think both defensive lines want to get to the quarterback,” Payton said. “That starts in training camp. So yeah, I think much is made of that. Obviously we want to have a good pass rush and get pressure on the quarterback. I think that’s a great example of Super Bowl week.”
After the Saints knocked off the Cardinals 45-14 in the divisional round of the playoffs, Warner sent Saints Coach Sean Payton a box of brownies, congratulating the Saints on the win.
It was a classy move by a classy player, Payton said.
“After the game last week we got a box of Fairy Tale Brownies sent from Kurt Warner just congratulating us,” Payton said. “Today I got another box. He said it was good luck for you last week, so here’s another box.
“My wife told me to leave the brownies at work, she doesn’t need them anymore. But he’s had a special career. I think this league’s better having had a Kurt Warner play in it.”
The National Football League appeared to back off Friday on its trademark ownership claims to the phrase “Who Dat” and the fleur-de-lis logo, saying it is challenging the sale of items only “when those products contained or are advertised using other trademarks or identifiers of the Saints.”
” ‘Who Dat’ we do not claim to own by itself,” said Brian McCarthy, a spokesman for the NFL. “It’s when ‘Who Dat’ is used in conjunction with Saints marks that it’s a problem.”
McCarthy said T-shirts and items with ‘Who Dat’ and a fleur-de-lis logo unlike the one owned by the Saints are allowed as long as they are not advertised as being Saints or NFL paraphernalia.
‘Who Dat’ shirts being sold at the Fleurty Girl shop on Oak Street would be acceptable, McCarthy said, as long as the shop removes advertising referring to the Saints.
In a letter to Sen. David Vitter, R-La., the league described the trademark tussle, which has enraged New Orleans Saints fans across the country since it erupted this week, as “a significant misunderstanding.”
Who Dat say dey gonn’ take away our chant and pride?
No-one now…but with restrictions.
As the New Orleans Saints prepare for their first ever trip to the Super Bowl, the NFL slapped down some cease and desist orders on local businesses. A lawsuit was filed to try those business to stop selling merchandise, including t-shirts, that have the colors and trademarks of the Saints along with the words “Who Dat” on it.
NFL spokespeople advised that the “Who Dat” phrase belonged to the NFL and those selling the merchandise were infringing on their trademarks.
Well, a small bit of a settlement has come about and it is a point for local retailers. Ok, so maybe half a point.
The NFL backed off a bit on Friday and now advises that they don’t own the fleur-de-lis or famous chant of the Saints, but will only challenge sales “when those products contained or are advertised using other trademarks or identifiers of the Saints.”
I’ve got a story that’s not running on the NFC South Blog because it’s running as part of our Locker Room Report series. But take a look when you get a minute because it’s all about the Saints and the potential obstacles they may face because of a lack of Super Bowl experience.
This is the first trip in franchise history and they’ve got only a small handful of guys who have even played in a Super Bowl before. They’re dealing with it by looking inside and outside for advicce.
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