Naeole
close to signing

The former Kahuku star
might become a Saint soon

By Pat Bigold
Star-Bulletin

The agent for former Kahuku High School all-state lineman Chris Naeole said last night his client could have a multi-million dollar contract with the New Orleans Saints by today.

Dave Morway, the Salt lake City-based attorney who is representing the Saints' top draft pick, said "we are about 75 percent there."

Morway said he now has reason to expect Naeole, the No. 10 selection in the NFL draft, will get more than the $7.4 million that last year's No. 10 pick (offensive tackle Willie Anderson, Cincinnati Bengals) got.

Naeole, a 6-foot-3, 320-pound guard notorious for ferocious "pancake" blocks (putting an opponent on his butt), was a consensus All-American from the University of Colorado.

Morway expects a five-year deal for the 23-year-old former altar boy who rode horses, roped steers and navigated jet skis on the windward side as a youngster.

The Saints open training camp tomorrow in LaCrosse, Wisconsin.

Asked what will happen if he can't come to terms with the Saints today, Morway said that Naeole and his wife, the former Tara Keawe of Hawaii Kai, will fly with their 2-year-old daughter, Azure, back to Utah and wait.

But Morway indicated he doesn't think that will happen.

"I'm hopeful we'll get something done," he said.

"I feel honored to have someone in the family to accomplish this," said Naeole's father, Simeon, who works at Kualoa Ranch.