LOWELL | Fun and football will be floating feverishly on the bayou. Some might even see an old coach try to punt a ball into Lake Pontchartrain. But there will be more for those who have eyes to see.
Lowell will take 12 players to the NFL's 7-on-7 National Tournament in New Orleans on Thursday to compete in the NFL's 7-on-7 National Championship against 15 other teams representing NFL franchises. The free mini-vacation will be paid for by Roger Goodell's league, and the NFL will write a $2,000 check to the Red Devils' athletic department.
But Lowell coach Kirk Kennedy hopes that his players take the most away from what will happen on Friday night, when all the high school players participating in the event will be given a tour of New Orleans' Ninth Ward, which was decimated by flood waters by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
"We saw it, but we only saw it on TV," Kennedy said of the devastation brought to the people who used to live in that area of the Big Easy. "We saw the boarded up windows, the broken down homes. But this will give our kids a chance to see the hardships that that caused so many families, so many people.
"I hope we see it in a somber mood and do so with respect. And that we'll be thankful that we've never had to live through something like that."
Lowell won the Indianapolis Colts' 7-on-7 on June 21 in Indianapolis, which qualified the Red Devils for the free trip this weekend. The team will drive to Indianapolis on Thursday and arrive in New Orleans that afternoon. Free food and a character development session will round out that day.
On Friday, round-robin play will begin in the morning, followed by the tour of the Ninth and the Superdome, which will be followed by a barbecue at the Saints' training facility.
"I just hope they don't run out of food," laughed sophomore Cole Midgett. "After we won in Indy, we went back there and there were no sandwiches left. I've heard they have great food down there and I'm ready for it."
Cole and brother Cody were in New Orleans as youngsters, where they got a Saints cap and a period carriage ride around the French Quarter. But they are the only Red Devils who've been to the extreme Southern city almost entirely surrounded by water.
The Midgetts aren't the only brothers going on the trip. Justin and Jordan Juarez will also be playing in the event.
"I don't even know what to expect," Cody Midgett said of the Ninth Ward. "I know it will be a lot different seeing something in real life and not just in pictures."
"My mom and I talked about it," Justin Juarez said. "While we were up here OK, they were down there struggling real bad. I think it's something we all have to see."
There will be some laughter, too. Kennedy played in the Superdome in the mid 1980s when the then-Louisville punter spent a weekend preparing for a game against Tulane. The stories of what happened are still up in the air.
"He told us he was the special teams player of the game," Cody said.
"But we went to see the game film," Juarez laughed.
