If you didn't know any better, Foster Moreau's OTA debut with the New Orleans Saints was a pretty ho-hum affair.
He ran every drill. He caught passes from multiple quarterbacks. There were zero limitations whatsoever. It was absolutely unremarkable until you factor in that the New Orleans native was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in March. Barely 8 weeks later he was on the field in New Orleans catching passes from Derek Carr.
"I don’t want to undersell what that man just walked through," Carr said of his teammate with the Raiders and now the Saints. "That’s pretty scary news and a pretty scary thing to go through, and for him to be out there already, I’m not going to get into his business, but it’s pretty miraculous. I know he’s thankful.”
But one thing Moreau wants to make perfectly clear: His challenge was more mental than physical. His rare type of cancer was not aggressive and didn't require chemotherapy or radiation. He underwent four treatments, the final of which he completed the day before signing his deal earlier this month. He wasn't impacted physically in any notable way and it hasn't prevented him from staying in shape.
Still, he admits that after sitting in a room being told his diagnosis Saints team Dr. John Amoss, he went home, put his head down and cried. The swell of support he's received in the weeks since has been remarkable he said, but it's also come with a new understanding of exactly what he's battling. He's scheduled to undergo a PET scan in the coming weeks to ascertain how things have developed in general, and it's possible he has to deal with cancer again down the road. That's just how these things work. But right now he's focused on the Saints.
“My quality of life did not change," Moreau said. "I’ll continue to fight this as long as I need to, and as many times as I need to fight this and go into remission, I will. And that will be a life sentence for me. But in terms of the struggle that I had to face was more mental than anything. So, the real heroes, are the kids in the children’s hospitals that are really fighting with real chemotherapy, real radiation. Those are the strong ones.”
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On the field he's in a similar boat to any newcomer. Moreau's got to learn the system and a new language, but it does help to have a quarterback he's worked with for the past four seasons learning the same things at the same time. Moreau said he was slow to get off the line a few times during Tuesday's practice, the only one of the three OTA practices this week open to the media. That wasn't the case with Carr, though. Moreau caught passes from both Carr and rookie Jake Haener in team drills.
"I’m just taking it one day at a time,” he said.
The next step will be figuring out how he fits in a TE room led by Juwan Johnson, who emerged as a scoring threat in 2022 and was signed to a 2-year, $12 million deal. Adam Trautman was traded away to the Broncos, but Taysom Hill is also expected to factor in to that group in some way, though it'll still be with a heavy dose of the QB run action he's proved so adept at.
The good news for Moreau, he understands the local language about as well as possible, having grown up in the city and starring at Jesuit before moving on to LSU. He entertained a notion back in his college days of potentially landing in New Orleans, but he admits that he had always considered himself to be a one-team guy, having always respected players who stayed loyal to the team that took a chance on them.
That obviously was not the case, with Moreau hitting free agency for the first time this offseason. It wasn't until his second or third day with the team that it dawned on him just how helpful it was to have his support system closeby as he went through his cancer scare, and he'll continue to lean on them.
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In the end, he's only the most recent homecoming story for the Saints over the past several seasons. Tyrann Mathieu warmed up that track for him, as a former LSU star signing with the Saints in his native New Orleans prior to the 2022 season. Moreau said he hadn't chatted with Mathieu much about his experience quite yet, but the Honey Badger had a pair of tips to share later on in the locker room.
1. Watch the diet
"You've got all type of people, family, friends, everybody wants to cook for you."
2. Plan ahead ... for tickets
"Find out who wants to come to the games, because you don't need those headaches the night before the games, everybody trying to squeeze in."
Wise words from a player who has traveled that road home after years in the NFL. But one way or another, Foster Moreau is happy to be back.
"I know these streets well, I love these people," he said. "Anyone that’s from here can speak to it. There’s something special about this city. There’s a different life in these streets, other than the potholes. It’s definitely a humbling experience.”
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