Mark Ingram became emotional Monday afternoon as he touched on the devastation in New Orleans and the surrounding areas of Louisiana caused by Hurricane Ida.
The Texans veteran running back spent the first eight seasons of his NFL career with the Saints, also building his family. New Orleans is where he met his wife.
"Heart goes out to everyone in Louisiana, especially New Orleans which was home to me for my first eight years of my career, helped me grow as a man,"Ingram said. "I met my wife there, three of my children were born there and obviously eight great years in New Orleans. Thinking about them and thoughts and prayers are with them. I know that community is strong and I know they will fight through this. They have been through so much over the years.
"I know the devastation and all of that through the hurricanes but all the people of New Orleans and all the people of Louisiana are very strong, very resilient and I know they will get through this strong and with the help of leaders of the community, everybody loves New Orleans so anyway that people can give a helping hand, I’m sure that they are and they will and make sure that community is as strong and as tight as ever.”
Ingram talked with Saints defensive end Cam Jordan on Sunday about getting involved with relief efforts to aid those impacted by the hurricane.
“Yeah, me and Cam were talking about it," Ingram said. "Obviously, I’m not as in tuned with everything that’s going on right now, so I get a lot of my information from him or scrolling through the news myself. Anyway I can, I’m sure he is going to be a part of many of the relief efforts, any way I could partner with him, partner with any of my former teammates, partner with friends and family that I have there now, I’ll be there because you know I love Louisiana. They always had my back when I was there and I will have their back the same way.”
Aaron Wilson has covered the NFL for 20 seasons, including the Texans, Baltimore Ravens, Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars. He has previously written for The Houston Chronicle and The Baltimore Sun. He’s on Twitter: @AaronWilson_NFL and Instagram: @aaronwilson7128.
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