NFL Football Revealed on Squib Kick

Deuce McAllister is the Man

by James on January 18th, 2007

NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.

Deuce flicks away a mosquito err Eagle defender

It did not have to be this way. He could have been bitter. He could have shunned the rookie. Most people would have done just that. No one would have blamed him. That is not the Duece McAllister way.

You see Deuce was… a first round pick by the Saints following one of their best seasons in memory back in 2001. They actually made the playoffs and won a playoff game. They ended up getting destroyed by the Vikings and were awarded the 23 pick in the draft.

With the 23rd pick in the draft the New Orleans Saints take … Deuce McAllister from the University of Mississippi.

Deuce had been a big star at the U of Miss, where arguably the best known Saint of all had come from, Archie Manning.

In his first year, all McAllister does is lead the conference in rushing yards, score 16 touchdowns, and make the Pro Bowl team. By 2005, Deuce is starting to take over all the rushing records for the Saints.

New Orleans is loving the Deuce. And then Hurricane Katrina came, we don’t even have to say anything about that other than it was devastating. Then the torn ACL came and Deuce had to sit. It was 5 games into the 2005 season.

NFL New Orleans Saints factoid Here is a team that has had 6 Hall of Famers and none of them actually played the bulk of their great games with the Saints. Most of them came to the Saints to be put out to pasture. Doug Atkins, Earl Campbell, Jim Taylor, Mike Ditka, Jim Finks, and Hank Stram.

NFL Squibster New Orleans Saints memory Your intrepid author witnessed, on TV, the great Tom Dempsey NFL record 63 yard field goal to beat my Lions 19 - 17. Most of us Lions fans are stilling getting NFL provided therapy for that one.

After the 2005 season was done, the Saints had another mediocre record and they went looking for a coach. They found a great one in Sean Payton

Sean Payton had been involved in offenses all his coaching career and when he found out he could get Reggie Bush in the draft. Sean did not hesitate. He just began diagramming plays for two backs.

Payton was busy studying the 2005 U.S.C. Trojans, who managed to split one football among Bush, tailback LenDale White and quarterback Matt Leinart. At the end of the season, the players were all still friends, and they all became high draft picks.

Payton already had quarterback Drew Brees as his Leinart. He was going to use McAllister the same way U.S.C. used White. Bush, naturally, would play Bush. N.F.L. coaches do not generally copy college teams, but the 2005 Trojans were no ordinary college team. source

But there is more to it than that.

Deuce had come into the league behind Ricky Smoke em if you got em Williams. Ricky did not take too well to his backup. Deuce put up with it and learned what he could from the smokin’ Williams.

In his heart, Deuce knew he could not treat Reggie that way. Deuce would take him in and show him the NFL way.

If paid off big time in the playoff game against the Eagles.

RUSHING OFFENSE: A-plus — The Saints were at their best when they needed to be with Deuce McAllister running over Eagles’ defenders and Reggie Bush dashing away from them. McAllister posted a club playoff-record of 143 yards on 21 attempts with a long gain of 28. He powered his way to a 5-yard scoring run and averaged 6.8 yards per carry, while Bush added 52 yards and a touchdown while getting 4.3 yards per try. As a team, the Saints finished with 208 yards on 37 carries and averaged 5.6 yards per attempt as fullback Mike Karney, tight ends and offensive line all did their share in making the running game go. source

The rest of the story is yet to be written, but with Drew Brees at quarterback handing off to Deuce McAllister or Reggie Bush and a great offensive mind like Sean Payton drawing up the plays, you can rest assured that New Orleans will have a successful two pronged running attack.

And with the way that Deuce has been running, you can rest assured that Deuce is the Man!

NFL Football Fan Question Will Deuce carry the Saints to the Super Bowl?

As always, any NFL Football related comments are welcome.

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