The New Orleans Saints will be represented by two unforgettable, yet very different, personalities this week when the NFL Draft unfolds inside Radio City Music Hall in New York: super-fan Leroy "Whistle-Monsta" Mitchell and Hall of Fame placekicker Morten Andersen.
Mitchell is a 20-year season-ticket holder normally easily recognized for the black and gold whistle head gear he adorns himself with for game day. Thursday, however, Mitchell will wear a custom Saints "Draft Day" jersey when he walks the red carpet to help kick off the Draftâs first round.
"I never envisioned anything like this in my life," Mitchell told the teamâs website. "It's brand new for me. I'm always thinking of the whole team and the whole fan base. For me to go and represent, it eclipses anything I have ever imagined as far as the Saints and football. It's like me winning the Super Bowl."
Mitchell is attending the Draft as part of The Membership Club, a league-wide benefits program that, for the first time, is allowing 24 season ticket holders from across the NFL to go both behind the scenes and in front of the cameras when they present the 2014 New Era Draft Day caps.
Friday, former Saints placekicker Morten Andersen will be on hand to present the Black and Gold's second-round selection. A member of the New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame, Andersen was an NFL fixture for 25 years, kicking for the Saints from 1982-1994.
"The Great Dane" then went on to jobs with the Atlanta Falcons, New York Giants, Kansas City Chiefs, and Minnesota Vikings. The native of Copenhagen, Denmark went back to Atlanta to wrap up his NFL career in the 2006/07 season.
Andersen was the first kicker drafted in 1982, when the Saints took him in the fourth round with the 86th pick. He went on to be selected to seven Pro Bowls and two NFL All-Decade Teams: the 1980's and the 1990's. Andersen scored 2,544 points during his years in the NFL.
