Saints’ Kaesviharn makes case to start

By Randy Savoie  |   Monday, August 25, 2008  |  Comments( 14 )

New Orleans Saints
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Suffering from writer's block after 7:30 a.m. Mass at Our Lady of Hopeless Cases, I drive through a steady Sunday morning New Orleans rain to a national bookseller you've all heard of in search of a cup of coffee and some inspiration.

Outside I happen upon an attractive red-haired clerk and she invites me to join her for a smoke. After telling her I am a sportswriter looking for some lost creativity, she suggests the modern classic, "On Bullshi*t." Then I ask her for some happy news, but she just smiles and turns away.

"One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshi*t," begins Harry G. Frankfurt's book. "Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share. But we tend to take the situation for granted. Most people are rather confident in their ability to recognize bullshi*t and to avoid being taken in by it. So the phenomenon has not aroused much deliberate concern, nor attracted much sustained inquiry."

As I stand in the self-help section, it occurs to me that we do indeed live in an age of bullshi*t: Reporters camped out on Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden's lawn at 2:00 a.m., talking heads analyzing preseason football from thousands of different angles and former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer's money-making venture of consulting NFL teams on how to handle innocuous questions from unskilled local radio reporters.

I have never aspired to gain a theoretical understanding of bullshi*t. After years as a sports journalist covering the Sabans of the world, I feel that my BS detector is as good as or better than most.

"We treat every player equally and there are no stars on this team." "We are going to put the best 22 players on the field." "I haven't talked to any teams. I don't intend to talk to any teams and I'm happy to be here." "I'm not leaving LSU." "I'm not leaving Miami." "We're going to get back to the fundamentals." "Players on this team believe in each other." "The players are buying into the system." "This "Dancing With the Stars" thing has gotten blown way out of proportion."

Blah, blah, blah.

Father Tony recently related to me in the confessional that bullshi*t is a necessary evil of life, and as long as one does not engage in an inordinate amount of it, it is possible for one to gain salvation. I tell him that I am a man of little or no conviction, so I have often reported bullshi*t as fact. Nevertheless, he absolves me of my sins. I feel relieved and begin walking toward the French Quarter to enjoy many a glass of Johnnie Walker's Best.

Saints head coach Sean Payton and Kevin Kaesviharn are two guys who aren't artisans of bullsh*t. The two were united last year when the team acquired the free safety from the Bengals. The marriage did not get off to a rousing beginning, though, as Kaesviharn expected to start but instead played a No. 2 role behind Josh Bullocks.

Kaesviharn made the most of his limited opportunities, amassing 36 tackles and eight pass breakups in 2007. It was no secret that Bullocks and starting strong safety Roman Harper were horrid last season. So when Bullocks missed time in training camp, Kaesviharn seized the starting job.

"I came in last year thinking that's where I'd be (a starter)," Kaesviharn said. "But I've always gone into each camp preparing and planning to be the starter. And if I'm not, then at least I know that if I had the opportunity through injury or something else, I'd be ready to play."

After a few training camp practices, it was obvious that Payton's confidence in Kaesviharn had increased immensely. Kaesviharn sensed as much, and his play this preseason has reflected his growing self-confidence.

"Obviously I'm more comfortable this year than last year," stated Kaesviharn. "It's not new to me. There are some things that they tweak every year, but I'm very confident in my understanding. So that's where we sit right now."

After his performance in the Saints' 13-0 shutout in Cincinnati on Saturday night - 1.5 sacks, constant pressure on a bruised and bloodied Carson Palmer and frequently stuffing the run - Kaesviharn appears to be sitting pretty in his quest to overtake Bullocks as New Orleans' starting free safety in 2008. The team ranked 30th in the NFL a year ago, surrendering 245 passing yards per game as Bullocks experienced difficulty keeping the secondary properly aligned.

"[Kevin's] running with the first group. I like his ability to key and diagnose and anticipate. He's very intelligent, and he's a very good tackler," said Payton.

Kaesviharn deflected the attention away from himself.

"It feels good to play well against your old team, but I think the mindset of our team as a whole was to go into this game and play well in all phases of the game," he said.

After last week's poor effort against the Texans, Kaesviharn said the defense felt a need for redemption.

"All week, you could tell in the practices we had [that] we knew we were better than we showed. We had a little something to prove tonight, but we've got to keep that edge about us week in and week out," commented the 31-year-old.

And that, folks, is no bullsh*t.

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