Vikings long snapper Cullen Loeffler reported the treatment an injured Favre got from the New Orleans fans (I think we can stop referring to them as “Saints” now):

One of the first people on the sidelines to check up on Favre was long snapper Cullen Loeffler. He went over [to] the training table where Favre was laid out and heard some of the things the fans were saying. He said he’s heard some awful things in the past – it comes with the territory in the NFL – but he was shocked with what he heard.

“It was incredible,” Loeffler said. “They were cheering and saying they hoped his leg was broken and he’d never walk again. I know fans are out to cheer for their team, but I couldn’t believe some of the garbage I was hearing. I could have expected something like that from Philadelphia fans because they kind of pride themselves on being jerks and being hard on everybody. They were the guys that threw snowballs at Santa Claus. I get it. But everything we had heard about Saints fans was that they were going to be loud. They were. But some of things they said to Brett was way out of line and really pathetic.” . . .

“That was just sick. I know those fans have been through a lot and they love the Saints, but there was no call for that. I’m just glad Brett was OK because he could hear what they were saying just as easily as I could. I would hate to think that his last memory of playing in the NFL would be hearing the stuff he heard. That would have been pathetic.”

I’ve been to NFL games as a fan of the visiting team in a number of stadiums. It’s not always very pleasant (Baltimore was the worst), but I always figured New Orleans would treat people reasonably respectfully. Sounds like Gregg Williams has found the perfect group of fans for his scheme.

ADDENDUM: After I posted this, I remembered my trip to Fed Ex Field last autumn for a Monday night game – Eagles visiting the Redskins. Now, if you’ve been to Fed Ex Field, you know that people … well, let’s just say it’s not a meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. Lots of swearing, lots of drunk people. In this game, one of the best players for the Eagles, Brian Westbrook, sustained a concussion. The Redskins fans were stunned into silence; it was obvious everyone was deeply worried about Westbrook’s health. When he finally got up, the fans cheered. Let me emphasize again, these are not polite people, especially for a Monday night game against a division rival. New Orleans will rank very high on next season’s NFL Scale of Moral Repugnancy.