The hundreds of kids who showed up at Tad Gormley Stadium were wet, tired and hungry, wrung out by two hours of football practice in a steady rain that enveloped City Park on Saturday.
But before they could head over to the tents to pick up the burgers and pizza provided for lunch, the group rose as one, each kid took hold of a white balloon and followed Saints cornerback Keenan Lewis on a walk around the track that rings the field.
Then they let the balloons go, each representing a victim of New Orleans violence — the reason behind Lewis’ idea to hold a football camp this week on short notice.