Saints' Rizzi says all members of team safe following attack - ESPN

METAIRIE, La. — New Orleans Saints interim coach Darren Rizzi said all members of the organization are safe following an attack in the French Quarter that killed 15 people and injured dozens more early Wednesday morning.

A man drove a rented pickup truck down Bourbon Street into a crowd of people, hitting dozens before engaging in a shootout with police officers that left him dead.

The attack led to the postponement of the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl between Georgia and Notre Dame. Former Princeton football player Tiger Bech was among those killed.

«Today's obviously a very somber day in our community,» Rizzi said. «I want to send out my personal heartfelt condolences, thoughts, prayers, to all the victims in this senseless shooting and attack early this morning in the French Quarter. It goes without saying this is senseless. It's hard to understand and it's really hard to comprehend why these things keep happening in our country.»

Rizzi said the Saints spent the beginning of Wednesday's team meeting with a prayer and a moment of silence for the victims.

«We talked for about 10 minutes this morning at the beginning of our team meeting, and nothing had to do with football,» Rizzi said. «It all had to do with keeping things in perspective and how blessed and fortunate we all are at the start of a new year. What we do here is obviously important to all the individuals that are here, but there's much more important things going on around the world and right here in our community and at home.»

Rizzi described the mood in the room as «somber» and said veterans urged the team to take leadership during this time.

«When something of this magnitude, on this scale happens, there are literally no