METAIRIE, La. -- Keenan Lewis has a picture of the people lined up outside of the Superdome around the time of Hurricane Katrina that he said he looks at every day.
“It reminds me to come out here and just compete,” said Lewis, a native of New Orleans’ West Bank neighborhood. “Because these fans, these people in the area just love the Saints. And I owe them that.”
Lewis wasn’t in New Orleans when Katrina hit 10 years ago today. He was starting his second year at Oregon State. But he had plenty of family and friends back home, some of whom lost their homes. He said he had a grandmother, an uncle, some aunts and cousins who didn’t make it out of the city in time and had to ride out the storm.
“It’s devastating when you’re a guy from here and you see people you love, your loved ones, friends, family, their family and friends go through situations like that. It definitely hurt,” Lewis said.
Lewis, who became a Saint in 2013 after beginning his NFL career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, said he appreciated how much the Saints meant to his loved ones and the New Orleans community back in 2006, when they helped inspire the city’s revival.
“I saw that year that guys came out with passion, and I salute those guys for that,” Lewis said. “Coming out and helping my city through that tough time and just bringing that joy and happiness to those people that definitely needed it.
“And that’s something we’ve still gotta continue."
Saints cornerback Delvin Breaux and guard Cyril Lemon, both of whom are from New Orleans East, said the same thing.
“That was big,” said Breaux, who admitted he wasn’t really a Saints fan growing up, but said he hopped on the bandwagon “a little bit.”
“Seeing those guys come back and rally the way they did after that happened, it was just a tremendous feeling, knowing that I have a hometown team that’s actually going out there and winning games and doing what they need to do to represent the city,” Breaux said.
Breaux evacuated with family to Baton Rouge and returned the next April when their home was rebuilt. Breaux said he was fortunate that all of his family and close friends came out of the storm OK.
As I wrote earlier this week, Lemon and his mom and sister wound up moving permanently to Marble Falls, Texas, which he said turned out to be a blessing because he built a better life there. He called it "crazy" that his path led him back to the city and the Saints 10 years later.
"This team was everything for the city," Lemon said. "Now I get to be a part of that."