Archie Manning isn't the only guy with conflicting emotions regarding today's Super Bowl between New Orleans and Indianapolis.
Manning was a legend while playing for the Saints and has made New Orleans his home. But his son,
Peyton, is the quarterback for the Colts.
So his rooting interests today, while maybe a tad conflicted, are obvious.
The same goes for Fred Sturt, a Toledoan whose NFL career included three-plus seasons with the Saints, and for similar reasons.
"I'm torn," said Sturt, the 59th overall pick in the 1973 NFL Draft. "The Saints are finally in the Super Bowl, and I admit it would
be neat for New Orleans to win. So I sort of hate to say I'm pulling for the Colts.
"But I played with Archie, who was probably the hardest working person I ever met in the NFL. And I've known Peyton since he was about two-feet tall. He's just like his dad. He's always working, always studying the game. I think too much of Archie and Peyton to root against the kid."
Still, there will be a soft spot in Sturt's heart for the Saints, even though the team he played for was sometimes known as the Aints.
Northwest Ohio fans have several rooting interests in the Saints. Wide receiver Lance Moore was a star at the University of Toledo (2001-04), and New Orleans tight ends coach Terry Malone was an assistant coach and offensive coordinator at both Bowling Green State University (1986-95) and Michigan (1997-05). Speaking of BGSU, the Saints for some reason held their training camp there in 1970, in the early days of Sturt's collegiate career with the Falcons.
Sturt was dropped from New England's active roster in early October of 1978 and was loading up his car for the drive back to Ohio when the phone rang.
"New Orleans had lost two guards to injuries and they said they needed me," Sturt recalled. "My wife said to go for it. So I was on a plane three hours later and I started the next Sunday against Cleveland and for the rest of the season."
Sturt, who starred at Swanton High School before embarking on what would be a hall-of-fame career at BGSU, started most of 58 games for the Saints over the next 3 1/2 seasons. The '78 team was 5-6 after he joined the roster, and the '79 Saints posted the franchise's first-ever, non-losing record at 8-8 with Sturt blocking for Manning and talented running backs like Chuck Muncie and Tony Galbreath. That team missed the playoffs by one game.
But the following year the Saints won only one game, and that by one point. Thanks to a legendary New Orleans radio talk show host, Buddy Diliberto, Saints home games became BYOB - bring your own bag - and fans followed his lead in referring to the team as the Aints.
Members of the Manning family, when prompted, will admit to the time eldest son Cooper, then 5, walked into the Superdome with a bag over his head.
Sturt said being an Aint "never bugged me. I never thought about the fans or the booing during games. I was too worried about not letting down my teammates and coaches. That one radio guy started all of that. But the real fans were die-hards. You played for the Saints, win or lose, and people down there treated you like kings. I only have good memories of my time in New Orleans."
Well, maybe one bad one. The 1-15 season cost coach Dick Nolan his job. Sturt called Nolan "a genuinely nice person, a neat guy to play for. He and my coach at Bowling Green, Don
Nehlen, were in the same class when it came to class."
Bum Phillips became New Orleans' coach in '81 and Sturt started every game during a 4-12 season. By the next training camp, though, "Bum had written me off," and Sturt's NFL career ended after 95 games over seven seasons with Washington, New England, and New Orleans.
"I had a shot at playing in the USFL after that," he said. "I was going back with my old Patriots coach, Chuck Fairbanks, and was going to block for Herschel Walker with the New Jersey Generals.
"We were at practice, and Fairbanks said 'five more plays.' One, two, three … and on the fourth I felt my knee coming apart like it was in slow motion. I was lying on the ground, looked up at Chuck and said, 'Get me to the hospital. It's over. I'm done.'•"
After surgery, he returned to Toledo and since 1984 has been a salesman for the Yark Automotive Group, where his office is littered with reminders of his pro career.
"Rumor has it the boss was glad I did well from the start because nobody knew who would fire me if it didn't work out," said Sturt, who at the time was still carrying his NFL playing weight of about 300 pounds.
Sturt was part of two playoff teams, George Allen's 1974 Redskins, where he blocked for two famed quarterbacks, Sonny Jurgenson and Billy Kilmer, and the '76 Patriots. Both teams lost in first-round games.
Sturt never made it with the Saints, not surprising considering the team is enjoying just its seventh playoff appearance in the franchise's 43-year history.
And they've extended this season all the way to Super Sunday.
"I'm happy for them," Sturt said.
Happy, but torn.
First Published February 7, 2010, 12:22 p.m.
