On what would have been Mike Detillier's 66th birthday, and tributes continue to pour in following his death on Sunday from pancreatic cancer.
Among those remembering Mike: several New Orleans Saints icons.
Former New Orleans Saints quarterback Archie Manning recalled Mike Detillier's love for the Manning Passing Academy and the players who attended the camp. Manning hailed Mike's preparation and knowledge of those quarterbacks.
"He knew more about some of them than I did," Manning said on Monday's edition of SECOND GUESS. "He had his info together when he was going to talk to someone, and he was well respected in the business."
Bobby Hebert, who grew up with Mike before becoming a USFL-champion quarterback and Saints legend, noted that Mike often knew which quarterbacks would succeed in the NFL, even if nobody else believed they would.
"Boy, he'd get so excited if he'd interview a player that nobody really wanted to talk to but turned out to be a diamond in the rough, and look where they're at now, and everybody wants to talk to them--(whether it's Kansas City Chiefs quarterback)Pat Mahomes or whoever it might be," Hebert said.
Former Saints running back and current WWL analyst Deuce McAllister said he leaned on Mike and his fountain of knowledge to help him prepare for his broadcasts. According to McAllister, one of Mike's gifts was explaining the game in simple terms.
"He was just so sharp," McAllister said. "For Mike, it was not only talking the game as far as sports or football was concerned, but to be able to put it in common sense so people could understand what he was saying."
McAllister said Mike's knowledge of football and sports in general were astounding. In fact, McAllister said Mike's annual draft coverage and draft guide were as good... if not better... than that of national outlets.
"If he probably had a couple more people or he really wanted to go after it, there's no reason why Mike could not rival some of the national publications with what he did and the information he provided," McAllister said. "That's just how knowledgeable he was, and, just to think, we had him right here with us in our own backyard."
Manning summed up Mike's encyclopedic knowledge of football and its players in one sentence.
"He knew everything about everybody," Manning said.
"He knew everything about everybody," Archie Manning said of the late SportsTalk host
"He knew everything about everybody," Archie Manning said of the late SportsTalk host
