The New Orleans Saints are hoping to provide a small moment of positivity for a city in mourning when they play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
Fifteen people were killed and at least 35 injured after a truck – driven by a man identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar – ploughed into revellers celebrating the New Year in the French Quarter of New Orleans in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Saints interim coach Darren Rizzi confirmed all members of the organization were safe but said the team would be playing for those not as unfortunate at the weekend.
“The community needs us right now, they need support. And everybody’s hurting,” Rizzi said.
“We’re playing for the community, for New Orleans, for the state of Louisiana. We’re playing for our fan base. In times like these sometimes, you can uplift people and shed a positive light in any way you can in a moment of disaster. Because that’s what this is, it’s a disaster.”
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) January 1, 2025
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Saints offer prayers to attack victims
The Saints players started Wednesday’s team meeting with a moment of reflection, as well as a period of silence and prayer.
Rizzi added: “We talked for about 10 minutes this morning at the beginning of our team meeting, and nothing had to do with football.
“It all had to do with keeping things in perspective and how blessed and fortunate we all are at the start of a new year. What we do here is obviously important to all the individuals that are here, but there’s much more important things going on around the world and right here in our community and at home.”
Life changes quickly – Davis
Team captain Demario Davis described the attack as “truly horrific”.
He said: “When something of this magnitude, on this scale happens, there are literally no words that are going to provide any solace for this. Moments like this … humanizes us all and shows us how fast life can change.
“When you’re a part of this game, you’re always trying to keep things in perspective and it’s always front and center, this game and all that’s going on. It’s moments like this that make you stop and put things in perspective. Many lives were impacted last night, this morning. I think it hit us all with a ton of shock. … It’s just truly tragic, truly horrific.”
