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| Saints respond to electric homecoming crowd with first quarter surge |
NFL Football |
09/25/2006 |
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| omed the Saints back to their home with a spine-tingling roar. Then the team welcomed their fans back to the rebuilt Louisiana Superdome with an electrifying, highlight-filled first quarter. A blocked punt that was recovered for a touchdown on the Atlanta Falcons' first offensive series, followed by a reverse for an 11-yard score, helped New Orleans grab a 14-3 lead at the end of the first quarter. Monday night's game marked the first in the Louisiana Superdome since a preseason contest on Aug. 26, 2005, t |
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| Reggie Bush: the latest savior for the Saints |
NFL Football |
09/25/2006 |
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| . The Saints caught a break when Houston passed on Bush with the first pick of the draft, allowing New Orleans to scoop him up at No. 2. Two road wins only heightened the expectations for ``Saint Reggie'' heading into Monday night's game against the Atlanta Falcons. ``What magnifies Reggie's situation is the Katrina stuff,'' Manning said. ``That's such a big part of it. Reggie kind of fell in our lap. It was almost like that was a fate thing, as we're going through this recovery and that that happened. We ge |
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| New Orleans football team plays first home game since Hurricane Katrina; Superdome reopens |
NFL Football |
09/25/2006 |
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| watch the New Orleans Saints' first home game since Hurricane Katrina on TV. ``I don't want to talk about Katrina. I don't want to talk about insurance. I don't want to talk about anything but kicking Falcon butt,'' Johnson said, referring to the Atlanta Falcons as he stocked up on beer at a grocery store for the cookout with his neighbors. Thousands of New Orleans residents hoped to put their troubles behind them for at least a little while during the game at the Superdome, which underwent $185 million i |
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| Amid the rubble, a city rallies behind its football team |
NFL Football |
09/24/2006 |
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| ``I just love 'em. I always loved 'em, even when I was small. And now that they're playing like this, I'm loving 'em even more.'' Granted, this is just a football game. It can only do so much. Even if the Saints remain unbeaten with a win over the Atlanta Falcons (also off to a 2-0 start), it's not like the frustrating bureaucracy is suddenly going to become more efficient or the mom-and-pop store that used to be around the corner will be open for business on Tuesday morning. Still, in a city that's cloake |
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| Saints reflect on season of displacement, and thankful it's history |
NFL Football |
09/23/2006 |
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| st home game in a sold-out, refurbished Louisiana Superdome. Their main concern seems to be that the celebratory, Super Bowl-like ambiance in New Orleans and demands by family and friends for tickets could distract players from preparing for the 2-0 Atlanta Falcons. The same time last year, the Saints were 1-1 coming off a loss in their ``home'' opener in Giants Stadium. Images of suffering storm victims in New Orleans - many of whom were stranded for days in the heavily damaged Superdome - were fresh. ``I |
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| Falcons play bad-guy role in the Big Easy |
NFL Football |
09/22/2006 |
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FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) -The Atlanta Falcons are used to getting booed in the Big Easy. They've never had a whole nation pulling against them. The Falcons are clearly cast in the bad-guy role as they prepare to head off to New Orleans for Monday night's emotion-packed reopening of the Superdome, the scene of horrific suffering during Hurricane Katrina. ``Everybody knows what happened down there,'' Atlanta cornerback DeAngelo Hall said. ``Everyone is going to be rooting for those guys. We're rooting for |
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| Back to school: Falcons add college-style option to their running game |
NFL Football |
09/21/2006 |
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FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) -The Atlanta Falcons came up with a new option for their already prolific running game. Get this: It's the option. In a throwback to an era when college teams such as Alabama and Texas ran up and down the field, letting the quarterback decide whether to hand the ball off or run it himself, the Falcons are shaking up the regimented NFL with their own limited variation of the scheme. Several times in each of the first two games, Michael Vick lined up in the shotgun, look the def |
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| He's back - and armed with plenty of jokes |
NFL Football |
09/20/2006 |
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FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) -Morten Andersen hasn't kicked in the NFL since 2004. He apparently spent the time away working on his standup routine. Andersen returned to the Atlanta Falcons on Wednesday at age 46, armed with plenty of material about becoming the second-oldest player in league history behind George Blanda. A quick sampling: - ``I've got my Geritol.'' - ``I was just talking to my old roommate, Y.A. Tittle, this morning. We were reminiscing about taking stagecoaches to the games. Good time |
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| The NFL's contribution to rebuilding efforts along Gulf Coast |
NFL Football |
09/20/2006 |
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A look at the NFL's contribution to rebuilding efforts in New Orleans, Louisiana and Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina: -Owners, players and fans raised more than $22 million, which includes $381,000 donated by Atlanta Falcons running back Warrick Dunn from contributions he received after challenging all players to give $5,000 apiece. -The league committed $15 million to the $184 million renovation of the Superdome, which will reopen Monday night with the New Orleans Saints hosting the Atlanta Falcons |
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| Have NFL and its players done enough to help rebuild New Orleans? |
NFL Football |
09/20/2006 |
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FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) -When Hurricane Katrina slammed into Louisiana, Warrick Dunn was so disturbed by the devastation in his home state that he wanted to do something extraordinary to help. So the Atlanta Falcons' notably philanthropic running back challenged his fellow NFL players to give $5,000 apiece - a gesture that would have raised more than $8 million if everyone had chipped in. A year later, Dunn has been able to donate $381,000 to Habitat for Humanity in his hometown of Baton Rouge, a much- |
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