Saints displaced to Texas
Displaced by Hurricane Ida, the New Orleans Saints went back to work Monday about 500 miles away in the home of another NFL team.
Saints players and staff, along with about 120 family members, relocated to North Texas in advance of the storm that made landfall south of New Orleans on Sunday as a powerful Category 4 hurricane with winds of 150 mph, and left that entire area without power.
Coach Sean Payton said the team will practice through Wednesday at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys. That comes before a previously planned break before the regular season. Saints players and staff, along with about 120 family members, relocated to North Texas on Saturday, when their final preseason game was canceled.
“Left behind are obviously apartments, condominiums, homes. Those are all physical things. Nonetheless, they're still home for so many people,” Payton said Monday.
Payton said he had heard nothing about the Sept. 12 season opener at home against the Green Bay Packers that is to be played in the Superdome.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
No. 2 Oklahoma and Tulane announced Monday that their season opener this weekend has been moved from New Orleans to Norman, Oklahoma, in the fallout from Hurricane Ida.
The Sooners said conditions in New Orleans were not favorable to host a game this weekend. Tulane will be the designated home team and will retain all net proceeds from ticket sales. Kickoff was still set for 11 a.m. Central on Saturday and the game will be broadcast on ABC.
“In this extraordinarily difficult moment for the people of Louisiana, we want to do our small part by assisting Tulane with the game this weekend,” Oklahoma President Joseph Harroz Jr. said. “While we regret that it's necessary for us to host it, we will welcome the Tulane family this Saturday with open arms and heavy hearts. We hope this act is one small way that we can help alleviate some of the stress the university is currently enduring.”
NCAA
Creighton has hired Marcus Blossom away from Holy Cross to be its new athletic director. Blossom replaces Bruce Rasmussen, the Bluejays' longtime athletic director who retired this summer.
Blossom was Holy Cross' athletic director for two years after spending five years at Boston College as senior associate athletic director for business and administration.
“It's hard to contain just how excited I am to join such an incredible program,” Blossom said Monday. “Creighton doesn't just compete at the highest levels in the Big East and nationally, it does so the right way, never forgetting its priorities, values, commitment to community, and most important, the growth of student-athletes and the entirety of their experience.”
BASEBALL
Boston left-hander Martín Pérez and right-hander Matt Barnes have become the latest Red Sox players impacted by COVID-19.
Both pitchers were put on the COVID-19 injured list before Monday night's game at Tampa Bay.
The team is going through the MLB coronavirus protocols that include contact tracing and testing.
Infielder-outfielder Kiké Hernández and infielder Christian Arroyo both tested positive and were placed on the COVID-19 injured list on Friday.
NFL
Fully vaccinated players will be required to get tested for COVID-19 weekly instead of every 14 days as part of the revised protocols for the regular season agreed upon by the NFL and NFLPA.
The weekly testing applies also for fully vaccinated Tier 1 and 2 staff. There's an option for a second test for those who want it, according to a memo sent to clubs and obtained by The Associated Press on Monday.