Over the course of his 15 seasons as an NFL head coach, Jim Mora became synonymous with his rants.
But despite being 22 years removed from coaching his last game, the 88-year-old is still adding to his highlight reel.
After the New Orleans Saints fell to 7-8 on the season with a 30-22 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday Night Football, former Saints kicker Morten Andersen took to X (formerly Twitter) to share his belief that “Saints fans deserve better than what we saw tonight.”
Saints fans deserve better than what we saw tonight.
— Morten Andersen (@GreatDane2544) December 22, 2023
Asked during WDSU’s postgame show if he agreed with his former kicker’s assessment, Mora made it clear he did not.
“No. These guys bust their tail out here — our players and coaches and everything,” he said. “Don’t tell me the Saints fans deserve something better than that. I mean they get what they get. They’ve gotta hang in there with the Saints. They may not, but they still could make the playoffs this season. So what’s going to happen when they make the playoffs?”
Considering New Orleans is 7-8 in a crowded NFC, we may never find out. Nevertheless, the former Saints head coach wasn’t done, taking aim at Andersen’s credentials.
“He doesn’t know what the hell’s going on. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia. And he’s a kicker,” Mora said. “Why should he know about the offense and defense and stuff like that? And he voices his opinion? Don’t give me that baloney. Shoot, that was 20 years ago for crying out loud when he was playing. And he can watch a game on TV and decide whether or not they’re worth whatever they are and all kind of stuff? That’s not right. I don’t believe in that. I’m not joking. I’m serious.”
Jim Mora takes issue with Morten Andersen's take that Saints fans deserve better.
"He doesn't know what the hell's going on. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia. And he's a kicker." pic.twitter.com/N9LgGJGYJt
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 22, 2023
To be fair, Andersen’s last season in the NFL came in 2007, six years after Mora’s final season as the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. And the idea of Andersen not being qualified to comment on the performance of his former team because of the position played is also shaky considering that he’s one of just four kickers to have been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Mora went on to call Andersen a close friend and laud the Michigan State product for his on-field accomplishments. But he was also clearly bothered by the idea of a former player commenting on a team’s performance from the sideline — which only made it all the more funny when co-host Lance Moore agreed with Andersen’s assessment.
Make no mistake, Mora’s latest rant was full of fallacies and irony considering he’s also commenting on a team he’s no longer a part of. But it’s exactly why he has now been a staple of WDSU’s Saints coverage for even longer than he was the Saints’ head coach.
