Super Bowl Champs take on softball
On Wednesday night I took on an interesting assignment that featured players from the New Orleans Saints NFL football team playing softball to help out a teammate in Heath Evans raise money for the Heath Evans Foundation to help victims of sexual abuse.
The charity softball game organized by Saints fullback Heath Evans attracted about 40 of Evans teammates including Super Bowl XLIV MVP Drew Brees as the squad of Saints players played against a group of military all-stars in front of a near sell-out crowd at Zephyrs Stadium in Metairie, Louisiana.
The game was extremely entertaining and an opportunity to see professional football players show off their skills at the game of softball. Several players were extremely impressive, quarterbacks Drew Brees and Chase Daniels each hit homeruns Brees connected twice on homeruns and kicker Garrett Hartley also delivered one over the fence.
Here are a few of my favorite images, I concentrated a lot of my shots on Drew Brees who played short stop and batted four times, hitting two homeruns. He also competed in a homerun derby before the start of the game, but unfortunately I was late in arriving for the game due to questions about media access and missed the entire homerun derby.
Drew Brees (9) at bat during the Heath Evans Foundation charity softball game featuring teammates of the Super Bowl XLIV Champion New Orleans Saints at Zephyrs Field.
Apr 28, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; Drew Brees (9) connects for a three run homerun in the bottom of the first inning during the Heath Evans Foundation charity softball game featuring teammates of the Super Bowl XLIV Champion New Orleans Saints at Zephyrs Field.
Apr 28, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; Drew Brees (9) connects for a three run homerun in the bottom of the first inning during the Heath Evans Foundation charity softball featuring teammates of the Super Bowl XLIV Champion New Orleans Saints at Zephyrs Field.
Apr 28, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; Drew Brees (9) reacts after hitting a homerun during the Heath Evans Foundation charity softball game featuring teammates of the Super Bowl XLIV Champion New Orleans Saints at Zephyrs Field.
I also made sure to get some photos of the Saints Super Bowl MVP in the field where he played short stop, while I didn’t get too many photos of him making plays I shot him in warm ups and throughout the game and figure it’s not everyday you see a Pro Bowl football player pictured playing another sport, here are a few shots of Brees from the field.
Apr 28, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; Drew Brees (9) throws the ball during the Heath Evans Foundation charity softball featuring teammates of the Super Bowl XLIV Champion New Orleans Saints at Zephyrs Field.
Apr 28, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; Drew Brees (9) in the field during the Heath Evans Foundation charity softball featuring teammates of the Super Bowl XLIV Champion New Orleans Saints at Zephyrs Field.
Apr 28, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; Drew Brees (9) throws the ball during the Heath Evans Foundation charity softball game featuring teammates of the Super Bowl XLIV Champion New Orleans Saints at Zephyrs Field.
Apr 28, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; Drew Brees (9) runs off the field at the end of an inning during the Heath Evans Foundation charity softball featuring teammates of the Super Bowl XLIV Champion New Orleans Saints at Zephyrs Field.
Probably the best photo from the game came later in the night as Saints defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove announced he would kiss all star player Martin McKinney if he hit a homerun, well guess what, McKinney hit a homerun and Hargrove followed through with the kiss at homeplate, drawing a loud reaction from the crowd along with some laughs.
Apr 28, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive end Anthony Hargrove (69) kisses NASJRB All Stars player Martin McKinney (11) after he hit a home run during the Heath Evans Foundation charity softball featuring teammates of the Super Bowl XLIV Champion New Orleans Saints at Zephyrs Field.
A few more of my favorite images from the softball game including Drew Brees, Jeremy Shockey, Garrett Hartley and Heath Evans who organized the entire event though his Heath Evans Foundation.
Apr 28, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; Drew Brees (9) hits his second homerun of the game during the Heath Evans Foundation charity softball game featuring teammates of the Super Bowl XLIV Champion New Orleans Saints at Zephyrs Field.
Apr 28, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; Drew Brees (9) celebrates after hitting his second homerun of the game during the Heath Evans Foundation charity softball featuring teammates of the Super Bowl XLIV Champion New Orleans Saints at Zephyrs Field.
Apr 28, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; Jeremy Shockey (88) at bat during the Heath Evans Foundation charity softball featuring teammates of the Super Bowl XLIV Champion New Orleans Saints at Zephyrs Field.
Apr 28, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; Heath Evans (44) pitches during the Heath Evans Foundation charity softball featuring teammates of the Super Bowl XLIV Champion New Orleans Saints at Zephyrs Field.
Apr 28, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; Anthony Hargrove (69) has a mock argument with the home plate umpire during the Heath Evans Foundation charity softball featuring teammates of the Super Bowl XLIV Champion New Orleans Saints at Zephyrs Field.
Apr 28, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; Garrett Hartley (5) reacts after hitting a homerun during the Heath Evans Foundation charity softball game featuring teammates of the Super Bowl XLIV Champion New Orleans Saints at Zephyrs Field.
Apr 28, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; Anthony Hargrove (69) plays catcher during the Heath Evans Foundation charity softball featuring teammates of the Super Bowl XLIV Champion New Orleans Saints at Zephyrs Field.
Apr 28, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; Garrett Hartley (5) connects hits a homerun during the Heath Evans Foundation charity softball game featuring teammates of the Super Bowl XLIV Champion New Orleans Saints at Zephyrs Field.
Apr 28, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; Drew Brees (9) celebrates with Pierre Thomas (23) during the Heath Evans Foundation charity softball featuring teammates of the Super Bowl XLIV Champion New Orleans Saints at Zephyrs Field.
Apr 28, 2010; Metairie, LA, USA; Drew Brees (9) at bat during the Heath Evans Foundation charity softball game featuring teammates of the Super Bowl XLIV Champion New Orleans Saints at Zephyrs Field.
That’s all for today’s blog entry, if you want to see more check out the Highlights gallery below, thanks for looking.
04-28-2010 New Orleans Saints Charity Softball – Heath Evans Foundation – Images by Derick Hingle
