Saints fans all over the Gulf Coast were saddened to hear that their favorite tight end has been traded to the Seattle Seahawks.
Jimmy Graham’s record-breaking seasons and celebratory slam dunks on the goal posts are what every Saints fan looked forward to as football season approached. That is until his touchdowns took a downward turn last season and the NFL put a ban on his unique spin of the end zone celebration.
But what Saints fans, and probably all football fans, may be forgetting is teams are fluid in the NFL. Before we had Drew Brees, Graham and any of the other football players that have found a place in our hearts, there were others before them.
It seems strange, but we are essentially rooting for the team as it stands on that day. And that line up can change not only temporarily for that day due to injuries, but permanently between seasons due to trades.
It will be disappointing to see one of our favorite players on the opposing team. But the same thing took place when Graham’s predecessor, Jeremy Shockey, moved to another team.
If Shockey was still with the Saints, it can be assumed Graham would not have become as important to the Saints as he had.
What this means is someone else will take his place. And hopefully Graham’s replacement will try his best to reach if not exceed the bar set so high by the best tight end to grace the game so far.
While players move from team to team in this league, what we can always expect is that a younger more ambitious player will inevitably step up to try to fill the shoes left by the person who preceded him.
We just hope Graham’s replacement can take the reins and provide Saints fans with a great performance and plenty of touchdowns.