Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Saints Nation: Fletcher is out, Leckey is injured; centers dropping like flies

Very sad news coming from Saints camp today as Alex Fletcher has been moved to the reserved/retired list with a kidney issue Sean Payton described as "fairly serious". The promising young rookie free agent center out of Stanford's condition is apparently made more serious due to the fact that he only has one kidney, according to THIS ARTICLE. Alex Fletcher was kind enough to participate in a Q&A session with Saints Nation earlier this offseason which you can read HERE. By all accounts Fletcher is a very hard worker and good all around guy that was immediately a solid addition in the locker room from a character standpoint. Saints Nation would like to extend him the best wishes in a quick recovery. Separate claims have circulated that he has to "retire immediately" and that his problems are "career threatening". Hopefully he can prove those harsh claims wrong and find success playing the game he loves. As Saints fans I'd like to collectively send positive thoughts Alex' way and maybe we'll see him back in Black & Gold. Keep fighting the good fight, taking care of your health first and foremost, and good luck Alex.

The article above also mentioned that backup free agent veteran center Nick Leckey had ankle surgery to remove bone spurs which could sideline him past the start of training camp. Out of nowhere Jonathan Goodwin has very little depth behind him, and Jamar Nesbit was moved to center to take snaps with the second unit today. The Saints did apparently sign free agent center Digger Bujnoch to fill in while Leckey recovers.

NOT GOOD!