Fairley could become fan favorite

Published 11:42 am Wednesday, March 30, 2016

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">As usual, it’s tough to get too excited about the Saints being set free on the free agency market.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">But you never know.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The latest was defensive tackle Nick Fairley, at first glance a tough sell for fans who want to love their players in a cuddly sort of way.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Fairley, who spent last year with the Rams after four years with the Lions, has a reputation for playing somewhat loosely with accepted sportsmanship.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">So it’s tricky.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">But it’s not a deal-killer.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Here’s how it works.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">It’s the first law of fandom.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">If he’s your player, he’s tough and hard-nosed, gritty, high-motored and tends to keep firing on all cylinders until the dreaded “echo” of the whistle (and if the other players don’t have their heads on swivels, that’s their problem).</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Now, if he’s some other poor fan’s pride and joy, of course, he’s just a dirty player and needs to be kicked out of the game post haste (before he whips out a machete).</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">See how easy that is?</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">It’s the same way you look at your own fans as being quirky, crazy, enthusiastic, usually delightfully funny, always the life of the party while keeping the faith.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">And all those other teams’ fans are just obnoxious, delusional and most likely drunk.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Nothing to it, really.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The method isn’t quite one-size-fits-all, but it’s pretty darn close.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">So let’s take a closer look at the Fairley signing.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">If you haven’t paid much attention to Fairley in the NFL, if you’re an LSU fan should remember him from his Auburn days — one day in particular.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">He played only one year at Auburn as sort of a toe-tap mercenary en route to the NFL, the defensive equivalent to Cam Newton on the other side of the ball.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Now you remember, don’t you?</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Auburn 24, LSU 17. Wild and crazy game in 2010.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">It was the Cam Newton game, Superman’s coming out party at Auburn.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Newton was a true one-man offense, of course, and probably clinched the Heisman with his performance, 217 yards rushing, against a really good LSU defense.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Fairley was the same thing on the other side of the ball, a one-man tornado, as clearly the best player on the field when Auburn was on defense as Newton was with the offense.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The stats showed he had but two sacks that day — in my memory it was a dozen or so, many maimed for life, and he was later the defensive MVP of the Auburn’s BCS championship game victory over Auburn. He also won the Lombardi Award, the defensive equivalent of the Heisman.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Put it this way: LSU had no one who could block him (and Tiger fans, of course, thought he was a “dirty” player).</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">But none of that is important now.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The only thing that matters is if he can help the Saints’ defense.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">So to make this look right, we might have to employ the same tactics used to turn a dirty player into a hard-nosed competitor.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Follow closely.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">On the one hand, Fairley has not exactly set the NFL on its ear in five years.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">On the other, he was the 13th overall pick in the 2011 draft, he’s had his moments, and everyone agrees there’s a huge upside there on talent alone. Maybe he’s matured now, ready to live up to his talent, and just needs quirky Saints’ fans cheering him on.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">On the one hand, whether villain or just hard-nosed, he has been penalty-prone in his career, sometimes even out-flagging trench mate Ndamukong Suh while in Detroit.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">On the other, he can it be any worse than Brandon Browner in the Saints’ secondary last season (if so, it would have to break Browner’s NFL record for penalties).</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">On one hand, it sounds desperate that the Saints did their usual two-step with the contract negotiations to where it will end up being only a one-year deal, with some fancy accounting tricks spreading the more lucrative signing bonus over three years.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">On the other hand, they</span> <span class="R~sep~ACopyBody" style="font-style:italic;">could</span> <span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">sign him, even with their habitual salary cap issues.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">But you wonder will he actually help the Saints’ defense?</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">On the other hand, is there anybody who wouldn’t help the Saints’ defense?</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">On the final hand, during his career, Fairley has often fought the battle of the bulge, with much of his lack of expected production and injuries blamed on an appetite conducive for being overweight.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">On the other hand, now that he’s in the more disciplined New Orleans culinary scene, surely … well, going to have to get back to you on that one.</span><p>Detroit Lions defensive tackle Nick Fairley tackles Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater during the second half of a 2014 NFL football game in Minneapolis. (Associated Press)</p>