Not unlike the superhero he took his inspiration, Saints rookie Michael Heldman's post-sack celebration has an origin story.
After being informed by teammates that he needed to come up with a special celebration, just in case, the UDFA out of Central Michigan found himself scrolling through TikTok the night before the preseason opener and came upon some Marvel clips.
"I'm just like, 'no one's ever hit the Dr. Strange,' ... that'd be kind of cool," Heldman said afterward. "You know, I'm a big Marvel fan, so it's pretty cool to hit that in-game, so just had to go get the sacks first to do it."
Coverage brought to you by Trane: It's Hard To Stop A TraneTrane: It's Hard To Stop A TraneAs fate would have it, Heldman drew the start against the Jaguars and did land those sacks, both times dropping into a crouch and miming a circle motions made famous by the magic-themed character Dr. Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Heldman said he never practiced and wasn't sure how it'd look, but the move landed with a confidence of someone who seemed like he'd been there before and -- more importantly -- looked like he belonged.
"I'm in the league now," he continued. "I think I need to have something ... that stands out."
Whether the celebration sticks around, Heldman is making an early case that he should. Along with the sacks, he accumulated six tackles, three QB hurries and three tackles for loss. What made the performance all the more impressive was that Heldman, by his own admission, was coming off a difficult performance in Thursday's joint practices. He recalled the painful film review sessions as they went over clips of him misidentifying situations or making mistakes.
He said he was sitting in his hotel room Friday evening and speaking with his wife, Ariana, who helped give him perspective and most past the practice.
"It was really just one of those things that, like … you’ve got to put plays behind you if they maybe -- they're not your best, and you’ve just got to keep going. You know, have fun with it," he said. "So that's just kind of how it was. I came in today, you know, stomach felt a little gurgly in the morning. But like, you know, got over it. I was like, man, this is exciting. I came here and I'm like, wooh, so I just had a rush and you know, I was out there the whole time. … Here we are."
That mentality is certainly something that stood out from Heldman on Saturday. He's a young player who is taking advantage of opportunities and certainly seems to be having fun as he does it. He'll have to keep that going to crack the roster in what is a crowded edge rusher room, highlighted by Chase Young, Carl Granderson and Cam Jordan, though with Jordan in the process of working back from a hamstring injury.
The young pass-rusher has said he's taken lessons from those veteran players already, and they've helped him think through the game. He refers to it as a chess match, and he went through some of the risk-reward decisions that allowed him to make plays on Saturday. Heldman likes to play with power, but the tackle was handling it well, stacking him up and shedding him to the ground. He identified that and on one rep, with the tackle getting aggressive for a run block, he feigned the bullrush and dipped inside, taking a risk but meeting the running back behind the line of scrimmage for one of his three TFLs.
"It's really just still playing that game ... playing a chess match with the guy in front of you and just understanding what they're going to do and that down and distance, where they are on the field," he said. "It's really just continuing to play the game. You know, your highs are your highs, get back to middle. Your lows, your lows, get back to middle. It's really just staying in the middle every time and just really attacking it.”
Heldman will ultimately be vying for roster spots against more established players like Tyree Wilson, a former top 10 pick, and Anfernee Jennings, who started for the Patriots in last year's Super Bowl. Both players suited up vs the Jaguars but neither participated. The Saints also opted to rest their starters after a heavy joint practice workload, and with another pair of joint practices on tap ahead of their Week 2 preseason matchup with the Rams. Both of those practices will take place over the upcoming week in California.
With so many players resting for the game itself, that meant a full game's workload for Heldman, Garrett Nelson, Fadil Diggs and Malakai Williams on the edge, along with depth players across the roster. That was in direct contrast to how preseason games can go with a full roster, which can mean third-stringers just see a handful of snaps at the end of games without much opportunity to correct mistakes and improve in real-time. Each of Nelson and Digs also logged a sack, and all four players logged at least three tackles.
“I think just relentless effort," head coach Kellen Moore said. "[Heldman's] got the right play style. I think [coach Jay Rodgers] is doing a great job with those edges. I thought those guys did a really good job, you know, it’s four guys and they were going all game, and they just kept coming and kept coming.”
