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When people talk about the New Orleans Saints they ask about quarterback Drew Brees or running back Reggie Bush or NFL Coach of the Year Sean Payton. Me? I want to know about Mark Campbell.
He's the team's tight end, and my curiosity has nothing to do with what Campbell did for the Saints last season. No, it's more about what he did for the Saints -- and the people of New Orleans -- after the season ended.
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| Being asked to introduce your first film at prestigious Tribeca? Bravo, Mark Campbell. (Getty Images) |
It's a film that details the Saints' return to New Orleans in 2006 and the role the club assumed in the city's recovery following Hurricane Katrina. While that doesn't make the project extraordinary, this does: It's a look at what happened from a player's perspective.
Now let's get something straight: This movie is not about Mark Campbell. It's not about the Saints, either. It's about a city and its people, how both benefited from what happened to the Saints, and how the Saints benefited from the people they touched.
"I wanted it to be a film of the team and the city," said Campbell, "because everyone down here has a story to tell."
Campbell found one of them at a local YMCA. He knew of the place because the Saints unsuccessfully tried to offer kids there tickets to the club's home opener against Atlanta. Now he understands why there was no interest.
"They didn't want to go because the Superdome was the place they went when everything terrible was happening (during Katrina)," he said. "They were stuck in there, and you don't need me to tell you how bad it was. So they didn't want to go.
"But at the end of the year when there was a playoff game against Philadelphia the Saints came back to them and said, 'Hey, we have these 30 tickets. Do you want them?' And they were gone in a heartbeat.
"I wanted to embrace that idea of how the city turned around a bit. By no means am I naive enough to think we made all the difference with the city. But I do think we helped. We gave them at least one day a week they could look forward to."
The idea to produce a movie first was proposed by Campbell's agent, who asked his client if he were interested in shooting something that could be viewed on cell phones. Campbell told him he was, but on one condition: That he could choose the subject and film it as he wanted.
"I said, 'If I'm going to do it this is the only thing I would do,'" Campbell said of the documentary. "I wanted to concentrate on the bond between the city of New Orleans and its team; how that bond was strengthened and how they helped each other a year after Katrina."
It took Campbell and McCabe three weeks to complete the film which, Campbell confessed, made for a "quick turnaround." The two covered the city shooting footage and talking to residents. They dug up film clips from local TV stations. They interviewed Saints players. They interviewed team GM Mickey Loomis.