--Former Ram Anthony Hargrove is playing defensive tackle for the Saints and making plays, something he rarely did during his seasons with the Rams.
Hargrove was eventually traded to Buffalo, where he was eventually suspended for one year for violating the league's substance abuse policy. He signed this past offseason with the Saints after being reinstated.
Asked on Sporting News Radio about returning to St. Louis, Hargrove said, "I mean that's where my NFL career started and I'm not going to lie it's a very emotional situation going back there. You know the same coaches aren't there, but the city ... there's a lot of guilt, there's some shame for letting the people down and letting the organization down. I love the city and I have nothing negative to say about it because they brought so much to my life and if I could say anything to them it would be to apologize to them and say I'm sorry.
"I wish I could have been the man they wanted me to be at that time, but they gave me a stepping stone, they gave me a foundation and because of them ... I'm here because of them. They brought me into the league, I'm here now. And if they never drafted me I don't know where I'd be; I could be out homeless walking the streets or something."
Asked how different he is now, Hargrove said, "Wow, that's a really good question. I was 20-21 years old at the time and was very immature. Coming into the NFL with dreams and aspirations and when you make it to the NFL you think all of your problems are solved. You get a little bit of money, a little bit of fame, and at that point I was with the St. Louis Rams and that's when they were the greatest show on turf and we had Mike Martz, Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce, we had Pro Bowlers and you just sit there and ... I guess I just lost myself in all of that I think it's safe to say.
"And now, I've had a year off where I had to really do some looking in the mirror, honestly really growing up and admitting some things, which wasn't easy, but it was something I had to do to grow up. So many of us call ourselves a man because of our age or because we're grown. But at that point in my life in St. Louis, I wasn't a man, I wasn't doing the things I needed to do to be the player they needed. I was blessed to get a second chance here in New Orleans. I consider myself ... I've grown up a little bit, I have a God that I believe in and go to with everything, and I leave it all to Him at the end of the day, but being here in New Orleans is a blessing."
--During days off with the team on the bye, coach Steve Spagnuolo got to see a little bit of St. Louis with some beautiful weather a big help.
Spagnuolo said, after a day of bike riding with his wife, Maria, "I didn't realize how big Forest Park is. I was impressed at the beauty of it. People were all over the place. They've got a museum, a boathouse, the (Muny), that looked awesome. I was impressed. I thought it was a beautiful park."
--Rookie OT Jason Smith was able to make the 90-minute drive to Columbia to see his college team, Baylor, play Missouri. He witnessed a surprising upset as Baylor outscored Missouri 24-5 in the second half to win 40-32.
Said Smith, "To see those guys and how hard they are working reminded me of how we are here," Smith said.
BY THE NUMBERS
9-5 -- Rams record after byes since they moved to St. Louis in 1995. That includes two straight, one of which was over New Orleans in 2007.
QUOTE TO NOTE
"There's leaders in there surfacing. I think people recognize who they are. Those guys I credit as much as anybody with keeping it together because it's the leaders in the locker room that do it. As coaches, we are not in there all the time. So when a young guy ventures the wrong way, a leader can pull him back in, that's huge. That's why you have to have the right people in the locker room and I think we have that." -- Coach Steve Spagnuolo on leaders emerging on a 1-7 team.
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