HORN BLOWS UP AT SAINTS
Receiver Joe Horn is pissed off at his former team. So, although the Saints have seemingly left the door open to his potential return, it looks like it will be difficult if not impossible to get these two back together.
"Right now it's going around that [the Saints] wanted to restructure my contract and I asked to be released, but this has nothing to do with money," Horn told the Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer. "I wanted to retire as a Saint. I've been through hell and back for that city and that organization. If I wanted out of New Orleans that bad, I would have just kept my mouth shut and let them move the team to San Antonio.
“I just don’t think [head coach] Sean Payton wanted me back. I asked to be released because I felt betrayed by a head coach who wanted to prove he could win without Joe Horn.”
Horn cites the refusal of Payton to use Horn after he had recovered from an injury as the catalyst for the divorce.
"When Sean Payton came here, I promised him I would be the best receiver, the strongest receiver and the best conditioned receiver in the league,” Horn said. "Even after I got hurt, I rehabbed every week, trying to come back. But even after the best orthopedic doctor in the country said I was ready to play and I practiced twice before the [NFC Championship game] against Chicago, he made the decision not to play me. That's when I realized that New Orleans wasn’t going to be big enough for both Joe Horn and Sean Payton."
In our view, this is a big deal because Horn was the face and voice of the team after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the region. And though the team tried to put a happy face on the move, Horn isn't going to let them secure the high road.
Moving forward, Horn thinks that he'll be productive in his next city.
"I want to go someplace where I can show that I can still put up big numbers and help the football team win," Horn said. "I want to go someplace with a head coach who believes in me and an organization that wants me. My age and the injury are not an issue. I know I can still perform and be one of the best receivers in the league."
