Mark Ingram recalls his rookie hazing with New Orleans Saints

The NFL offseason is in full swing, and rookies are getting to work with their new teams around the league. Former Alabama Crimson Tide and New Orleans Saints running back Mark Ingram knows that it also means the start of some gentle rookie hazing.

Ingram happily shared that he didn’t have to deal with anything too bad on The Triple Option. Instead, he was just in charge of picking up everyone’s breakfast orders.

“All I had to do was bring breakfast sandwiches every Saturday morning,” Ingram said. “I had to go make sure, get everyone’s order, breakfast sandwiches. That was my job, but it was all easy, man. Some people get it way worse.”

Ingram was selected with the 28th pick in the first round back in 2011. That came after a college career that saw him win the Heisman Trophy. As a rookie, he faced some massive expectations, which, along with some good teammates, helped the hazing from being worse than being their breakfast delivery driver.

“I was thankful I had some OGs that just wanted to eat good,” Ingram said. “That’s all they wanted.”

Ingram also made it clear that everyone on the team could have anything they wanted for breakfast. As long as the breakfast place he went to could make it, they could have it, including a pork chop on your breakfast sandwich.

“You could have biscuits, you could have bagels, you could have muffins. It depends on what your heart desires,” Ingram said. “I would order it and the breakfast sandwich place would make it. I can’t believe I forget the name right now… Everyone got one or two. Bacon, egg, and cheese. Sometimes bacon, egg, sausage, and cheese. Sometimes the pork chop. They had all types of things. The pork chop breakfast sandwich — in the South. In that Dirty South. In Louisiana. That’s how we do it in that Dirty South, man.”

As a rookie, Ingram would go on to play in 10 games and make four starts. Injuries to his heel and toe did limit him that season. Still, he’d rush for 474 yards and five touchdowns. He also had 11 receptions for another 46 yards.

Later in his career, Ingram would go on to be a three-time Pro Bowl selection. The majority of his career was with New Orleans, though he did also make brief stops with the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans before returning to the Saints to finish his career from 2021 to 2022. So, clearly, there was something that he always enjoyed about playing there.