T Saints get first look at Jason McKie

METARIE, La. - All Jason McKie was looking for were a couple of towels to take to the shower following Friday morning's first minicamp session with the New Orleans Saints.

That should be a simple request for a nine-year NFL veteran with a Super Bowl appearance on his resume. Right?

But there was the Gulf Breeze High grad searching for a training room attendant. None could be found, though, and probably for good reason.

The star players, who demand attention, never come into the locker room early after practice - too much media.

This is what starting over looks like.

"This (practice was) my first time seeing him," Saints running back Lynell Hamilton said of McKie, who signed with New Orleans on May 24 following his release from the Chicago Bears, "and I'll tell you what he looks like to me - a good, stocky guy that can bash some heads. As the back running behind a guy like that, I love it."

"If this works out, I'll tell you what I'll do," Hamilton added, with a laugh. "If he needs a towel, I'll get it for him."

So this is the new lease on life for McKie, who signed a one-year deal after seven seasons in Chicago, the last four as the starting fullback. A 5-foot-11, 247-pound bowling ball, McKie's end with the Bears came when passing guru Mike Martz was brought in as the new offensive coordinator.

McKie was released on March 16. Two months later he's the main competition for Heath Evans to start the Sept. 9 opener against Minnesota for the defending Super Bowl champions.

"It was just a case where they changed to an offense that didn't involve the fullback a lot, so they didn't have much use for me," McKie said of Chicago, where he first became the starter during the Bears' 2006 Super Bowl season. "But then I got the chance to come to a team that does use the fullback, and the best part is this is a great team, the defending Super Bowl champs, so I couldn't have asked for a better opportunity."

Statistics aren't what interested the Saints in McKie, who has 448 combined rushing and receiving yards, and six touchdowns, in a career that began as an undrafted free-agent signee with Philadelphia in 2002.