Jamarca Sanford has never been more nervous than when he took the field on seven plays for the Vikings’ defense as a rookie in the 2009 NFC title game in New Orleans that propelled the Saints to their lone Super Bowl victory.
Jamarca Sanford
He’s also never heard a more vociferous crowd than the 71,000+ that suffered and cheered their way through the twists and turns of a contest that the Saints won 31-28 in overtime.
Five years later, Sanford finds himself as grateful as can be that such an atmosphere is at last on his side.
“It’s hard to come down here and beat New Orleans,” said Sanford, who’s seen the Saints compile a 37-10 home record in the regular season and playoffs since he entered the league as a seventh-round draft selection out of Ole Miss. “It always has been for years.”
Sanford signed with the Saints on Wednesday after the team placed rookie safety Vinnie Sunseri on season-ending injured reserve with a fractured arm. A mainstay on special teams who logged 11 snaps at defense this year, Sunseri broke his left arm attempting to make a tackle in New Orleans’ 27-24 overtime defeat against San Francisco at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome this past Sunday.
A native of Batesville, Miss., who led South Panola High School to a state title and was part of the third-longest winning streak (89 games), Sanford has similar qualities to Sunseri and happens to be more experienced. He started 44 regular-season games for the Vikings over five seasons and had two interceptions, 11 passes defensed and 169 solo tackles.
Once a game away from appearing in a Super Bowl, his time in Minnesota came to an end when the Vikings let him go with an injury settlement after he hurt a quad in
August.
Sanford then served on Washington’s special teams for three games this year and recorded 1.5 tackles before being released in mid-October.
Sanford on Wednesday said he doesn’t expect it to be too difficult manning the role Sunseri had to give up for the rest of the campaign if that’s what the Saints require.
“The basics are the same,” said Sanford, whose early focus since joining the Saints has been special teams. “What you do specifically is really the same. … Going to Washington for three weeks, it kind of helped me with this defense, because some of the defense they run is familiar to what Washington runs, and some of the defense they run in Minnesota is really familiar to all of them. Just really having all that together helps you a lot, and (there isn’t) really too much more different that you can do.”
Saints coach Sean Payton echoed those remarks.
“Sanford’s an easy switch with Vinnie,” Payton said. “On special teams, (and) he can play safety.”
Sanford and his new team host Cincinnati at noon this Sunday. The Saints are 4-5, and the Bengals are 5-3-1.