Naeole is eager to go,
but Saints say ‘whoa!’
New Orleans coaches won't
By Pat Bigold
rush him into the lineup until he's
fully recovered from his injury
Star-BulletinNew Orleans Saints offensive line coach Dick Stanfel won't give his age but he last played college ball in 1950 and began his coaching career at Notre Dame 15 years before Chris Naeole was even born. So when he says Naeole plays "like an old-time football player," he knows whereof he speaks.
"What intrigues me is that he plays like he enjoys the game," said Stanfel, who first alerted head coach Mike Ditka to the former Kahuku High and Colorado guard's NFL worthiness.
"He's Mike's type of ballplayer," said Stanfel, who shares the belief that the joy of hitting and blocking is too often lost in the lust for millions.
Of course, Naeole is not playing for peanuts. He has a $7.9 million five-year contract with the Saints. But Stanfel said he believes Naeole, the team's first-round draft pick, is special.
He recently heard the oft-repeated story about how the then-high school-aged Naeole, wrestled a young bull to the ground during branding time at the Kualoa Ranch.
"That bull gets bigger every time the story gets told," said Naeole, who is 6-foot-4 and 300 pounds himself.
"Well, he'll have to rassle a few bulls in the NFL," Stanfel said.
For that reason, he doesn't plan to rush Naeole into his NFL debut after the torn medial collateral ligament Naeole suffered in his left knee the first week of training camp is healed.
"After it's better he'll have to get back into shape and get used to contact again. I have NO idea when that will be," said Stanfel, who said he regrets that Naeole will be "thrown to the wolves" when he finally gets the green light.
"I think the pain of not playing is worse than the pain in my knee," said Naeole, who watched Donald Willis hold down the right guard spot while the Saints have gone 2-1 in the exhibition season.
He can get around in his brand new Tahoe (an improvement over the old Honda he drove during his years at Colorado), work out in the weight room and attend team meetings.
"I'm just trying to get my mobility back and I'm doing a bunch of stuff on a water treadmill," he said. "I'm trying to get a range of motion back to some degree."
A debut in the second regular season game (Sept. 7) at home against San Diego has been projected but even Ditka emphasizes that Naeole must be completely ready before he'll alow that.
Naeole said last week the pain has now subsided to a "slight soreness."
He said he's eager to play in the Ditka offense.
"There's a lot of pulling, trapping, run blocking -- I can fit right into this offense," Naeole said.
In the meantime, Naeole and his wife, the former Tara Keawe of Hawaii Kai, are slowly but surely moving into their new home in Old Maiterie. It's not far from the Superdome and the Saints practice there.
He said he's been getting used to his heightened celebrity status and signing autographs -- especially for children -- is something he does with enthusiasm.
"For children, I'd do anything,' said Naeole, already a father at 22.
The presence of two former Pac-Five (Maryknoll) players on the Saints' roster makes NFL rookie life even more bearable.
"I hang out with the Hawaii boys," said Naeole, referring to former New England Patriots defensive lineman Pio Sagapolutele and free agent linebacker Ink Aleaga (Washington).
The late arrival of Sagapolutele gave Naeole and Aleaga a veteran NFL player on whom they can lean.
"We ask him things about the NFL and whatever we need he's there for us," Naeole said. "It's nice to have somebody like that from home and we're happy that he's here."
Naeole hasn't forgotten where he came from and he said he is establishing a foundation to deal with children's needs in Hawaii. It's a program he has not had time to formulate as yet.
He's not too involved in his new life as a celebrity to think about his old high school team and the fact that Kahuku has dropped from the Oahu Interscholastic Association's elite Red Conference to the White Conference.
"That's awful," Naeole said.
He keeps in touch with the team's ups and downs through his brother-in-law, Raiders' assistant coach Byron Beatty.
Asked what it's like to have a coach like Ditka, Naeole said, "You just look at him and you can feel it (the intensity)."
