The New Orleans Saints have long been Mississippi’s NFL team and not only because they are the closest in proximity. The first Saint? Paige Cothren, born in Natchez, played college ball at Ole Miss.

    Most beloved Saint? Archie Manning, from Drew, and also Ole Miss.

    Saints all-time leading rusher? Why, Deuce McAllister, of course, from Lena and Ole Miss.

    And then there’s the fact that the Saints have trained both in Hattiesburg and Jackson over the course of their history. Yes, and when Tom Benson wanted a new stadium, how did he threaten the Louisiana legislature? Why, he was going to move the team to Hancock County. That’s how. It was so big and ridiculous a bluff, the Louisiana legislature called it. Benson settled for Superdome upgrades.

    But the fact is many Mississippians live and die, emotionally, with the Saints. They are in our livings rooms every Sunday. They are, for better or worse and there has been much of the latter, Mississippi’s pro football team.

    So it is that Mississippians were more than slightly interested when it came time for the Saints to pick in the recent NFL draft. Choosing with the 15th pick of the first round, the Saints took University of Texas safety Kenny Vaccaro. Now, you’re probably trying to figure out where this is headed. Where’s the Mississippi connection? Well, for one thing, Vaccaro was in on five tackles and broke up a pass in the Longhorns’ 66-31 victory over Ole Miss last season.

    But the Mississippian who has the best knowledge of Vaccaro is probably new Southern Miss coach Todd Monken, who was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State for the past three seasons. In all three, Okie State played important Big 12 Conference games against Mack Brown’s Longhorns. Monken prepared the Cowboys’ offense to go against a Texas defense that featured Vaccaro, an All American, as its best player at free safety.

    Monken’s high-scoring offense won two of the three games, averaging more than 34 points per game.

    But to listen to Monken, none of that was because of Vaccaro, who led the Longhorns in tackles last season and was four-year standout.

    “Here’s what I can tell you about (Vaccaro): He gets it,” Monken said. “He is a really good football player who was a pain in our rear

    end all three years. He just has a feel for it and he has all the intangibles, grit, determination, you name it.

    “He’s a heckuva football player, and I don’t even know what he ran or any of his measureables,” Monken continued. “I can just tell you he knows how to play football. He has the instincts and he knows how to play. My guess is they’ll love him in New Orleans.”

    Now then, back to the Mississippi-New Orleans Saints connections. One of the first Saints safeties was former Ole Miss quarterback Jimmy Heidel, later the head of the Mississippi Development Authority and a highly decorated economic developer.

    Heidel wore jersey No. 26 long before McAllister. He started for the Saints in their first season (1967) but then was cut before the 1968 season began.

    “That’s the way it goes some days,” Heidel told newspapers after getting his release. “Somedays you’re the windshield and somedays you’re the bug.”

    In those early days, the Saints were usually bugs.