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Article Written on: Tuesday-May-25-2010 BuzzBoards Calendar Contact Advertise About
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New Orleans Saints: Scott Fujita, Pierre Thomas, Joe Horn, Cleveland Browns


Written by: Ed Staton


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New Browns linebacker Scott Fujita likes what he sees in the Cleveland locker room.

After he signed with the Browns as a free gent in March, Fujita saw that the Browns were assembling a locker room full of high-character guys -- his No. priority. The added team leaders teams leaders such as former Saint and Panther Jake Delhomme, Seneca Wallace, Tony Pashos and Ben Watson.

"All the guys are great," said Fujita. "No one's afraid to go to work. One thing I learned in New Orleans that with all the players who are already here and showed a lot of resolve in the last four or five games last season, people who are hungry to win -- that's something I want to be part of."

Fujita, 31, hoped to have another season or two with the Saints, but they figured he had another season or two left and didn't show nearly the commitment that the Browns did: A three-year deal worth $14 million, including $8 million guaranteed. With incentives he could make up to $16 million. That's more than twice as much as the Saints were willing to pay him.

Fujita and his wife, Jaclyn, moved to New Orleans, near the French Quarter, seven months after Katrina.  He was the first free agent Saints coach Sean Payton signed. Payton had been with him at Dallas.

The Fujitas dedicated themselves restoring the region and the coastal wetlands. To them, it felt like a higher calling, a chance to do something larger than football.

Fujita also worked tirelessly on other charities in the city, especially the two that are close to his heart: Children's services and breast cancer research. Born to a teenage mother, Fujita was adopted at six months old by Helen and Rod Fujita, a Japanese family., who also adopted his older brother, Jason. His mother is a two-time breast cancer survivor.

In January, after the Saints won the Super Bowl, Fujita donated half of his $83,000 championship earnings to gulf restoration and Haitian Earthquake relief. For his efforts, he was named “Saints Man of the Year”; an achievement that meant as much to him as the Lombardi Trophy.

"Cleveland's a big change, but it's a change that my family is embracing," said Fujita. "We love to explore new areas of the country and for us that's part of it. It's not just playing football.. We also know there's a great fan base here, so we're excited about that."

Fujita and his wife, who have twin young daughters, so loved what they saw in Cleveland, they turned down  a trip to Arizona the next day.

The Fujitas brought a home on California's Monterrey Peninsula last season.

"I do know Cleveland to a certain extend is suffering right now," said Fujita. "Unemployment is really high and I know they want great football again."

Fujita will also finally get a chance to play for Browns defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, whom he met in 2002 on a pre-draft visit to New England, where Ryan was linebackers coach.

"I wasn't recruited coming out of high school in California, and my only visit coming out of the draft was to New England," said Fujita, who was a walk-on at California. "Rob took me out to lunch and bought me a hamburger, and I thought that was the coolest thing. It was a little dive bar, but still, somebody bought me a hamburger."

Fujita is playing right outside linebacker in the Browns' minicamps. I can't play anywhere:' said the linebacker.

Fujita will travel to New Orleans on June 16 to receive his Super Bowl ring, then he'll he'll get back to work in Cleveland the next day.

"Now I'm on the same mission as I was with the Saints, which is to win a championship and try to bring that to Cleveland," said Fujita.

SOME HITHER, OTHERS YON: Pierre Thomas will sign a long-term contract with a big raise before training camp., begins. Thomas was the unsung hero of last year's Saints team The number of huge plays he made -- and not just in the playoffs --equal any player of the team in 2009 other than Drew Brees. Thomas will never make as much as Reggie Bush because he was signed a undrafted free agent and Bush was the No. 2 pick in the draft..... Trivia time: Name Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year in 2009?...   Saints safety Chip Vaughn, on missing the Super Bowl because a season-ending injury in training camp:  This is the game. Every kid grows up dreaming about it, to be on that stage. It was the best of me and the worst of me.  I didn't feel like I was part of the Super Bowl. I saw the looks on the guys' faces. I'm not going to wear my ring. I'm giving to my mom. If I wore it, I would feel like I cheated."...

 

Joe Horn

Loquacious and swashbuckling wide receiver Joe Horn is the newest inductee to the Saints Hall of Fame.

Horn, who spent 2000-2006 with the  Saints and was a four-time Pro Bowler and during his seven seasons at New Orleans, he caught 523 passes for 7,858 yards and 50 touchdowns. He fumbled only seven times in his career.

When the Saints acquired little-know Horn from Kansas City, fans had no idea what was coming.

His passion for the game quickly stamped him as a fan favorite; Few Saints have been more revered. He was usually the first one to sign autographs at a team function and always the last one to leave.

He also established a reputation as an All-Pro trash talker. He wasn't soft-spoken or shy in locker room interviews. His honest comments sometimes got him in hot water. Team officials called him on the carpet more times than they could count.

"Horn can drive you crazy at times," said Saints then coach Jim Haslett. "But he's a warrior. He plays with his heart on his sleeve. There's no question about his heart."

But Horn had a fear of flying. Every postseason he had to decide if he was going to fly to Honolulu for the Pro Bowl.

"I don't like flying at all," Horn said back then. "I don't care if it's a 20-minute flight. I don't fly anywhere in the offseason. The only reason I fly with the Saints is because it's part of the job."

The flight to the Pro Bowl is eight hours. Horn would have to be sedated for that flight.

Horn had one of the NF L's best repertoires of end-zone celebrations and dances. There was the famous celebration.

When the Giants visited the Saints for an ESPN Sunday night game, Horn had a surprise planned.

After scoring the second of his club-record touchdown catches in the second quarter, Horn dug out from a post and feigned a celebratory phone call.  The sellout crowd at it up. Horn pretended to make a call to his mother, and daughter and son, to let them know the show was on.

"I knew exactly what I was doing," said Horn afterward. "I’m sure I'll be fined  for it. For what, I don't know. I'm sure there are a lot of fans across the nation that loved that and love excitement in the game. I wasn't taunting anybody. I was dancing, celebrating, Fans love that."

Haslett wasn't impressed. He admonished Horn on the sidelines before national television.cameras.

The NFL fined Horn $30,000 for the stunt. A few months later, the NFL passed a rule that would result in an ejection for players who carry extraneously brought foreign objects onto the field during games.

Actually, kick returner Michael Lewis dug the hole for the phone and dug it up,  and carried it to Horn for the stunt. He was fined $5, 000, which Horn paid.

When the rumors were flying that Horn was about to be cut loose by new coach Sean Payton because Horn wasn't heading in the same direction as the rest of the team.

"I can still play at the Pro Bowl level," said Horn. "The films don't lie. And my receiver coach knows what I can do, and I know Coach Payton knows what I can do. But I won't be surprised if my agent got a phone call or I got a phone call and they told me I was going in a different direction. The, I'd clear out my locker, I'd say farewell to the fans here that I love dearly and they love me, and I'd put on another helmet."

He finished his career at Atlanta, but barely made a dent there. He tried out for the Giant, but wasn't offered a contract.

Horn said he  felt unappreciated as the team made the Super Bowl run and activated Deuce McAllister for the playoff games. He sat in a nosebleed section of the Superdome and talked with the fans.

This honor should make Hollywood Horn feel a little more loved.





 












 

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