ROUSES_Fall2023_Magazine

as “the Cajun Cannon,” playing football and talking sports are pretty much all he has ever known, and talking sports is now what he does every day on afternoon Sports Talk radio for WWL. The so-called “Founding Father of the Who Dat Nation” grew up on the bayous of South Lafourche, specifically in Cut Off, playing high school football at South Lafourche, then

Square, and ASM Global/LSED. But Hoss harbored a dream. He always wished he could be the play-by-play announcer for the New Orleans Saints. When the iconic Jim Henderson retired, Hoss threw his hat in the ring, but Saints defensive lineman Zach Strief announced his retirement from the game, and WWL radio management snagged the former, popular player for the job. Hoss, one of the finalists for the role, describes Strief as “the right hire at the right time.” Then, as Hoss’s luck would have it, Strief accepted Coach Sean Payton’s offer to join the team as a defensive coach in 2021, and the opportunity once again presented itself. Hoss says it was the “unbelievable break of a lifetime.” Already blessed with a deep knowledge of and interest in sports and the Saints, Hoss says that as he approaches his third season, he is always practicing and studying. “I started July 6, 2021, and knew immediately how incredibly, massively behind I was. I was observing training camp, getting to know the team and learning how to prepare,” says Hoss. “First preseason game and there are 90 people on each roster.” He describes the first year as “all difficult, like a salmon swimming upstream.” Then came Hurricane Ida. “Now, I was preparing for my first regular season game — a home game that had to be relocated to Jacksonville because of post-hurricane conditions in the city — while living with 26 people in a house in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. I had never not covered a hurricane for television, and now I was working on game prep and driving to the city to check on the Superdome, and the football team was in Dallas,”

attending Northwestern State. Hebert’s first pro gig was in the USFL…first the Michigan Panthers, then the Oakland Invaders, where he received many honors: the Invaders were runners-up in the USFL Championship (1985); in 1983 Hebert led the Panthers to the USFL championship, and he was the MVP in the game and the Most Outstanding Quarterback in the league that season. Hebert joined the New Orleans Saints in 1985 as a rookie and, in 1991, after leading the

Saints to the best start ever in franchise history, he was honored on the cover of Sports Illustrated on October 7 of that year. In 1993, Hebert signed with the Atlanta Falcons and played in the NFL Pro Bowl in 1993. Atlanta was where he landed his first job on the radio talking sports after he retired from play. “For a while I thought about coaching, but the lifestyle of a coach is hard on a family,” says Hebert. “So, I thought, ‘How can I stay involved in sports?’ I’ve been doing radio for 26 years, starting in Atlanta,” says Hebert. “There, talking sports was more about the Atlanta Braves baseball team, not the Falcons. The Braves were the celebrities, the stars. Back then Buddy Diliberto was on the radio back here in New Orleans, and he called and asked if I would come on his show.”

Hoss recalls. “We were not seeing the team on a daily basis and had to hit the airwaves to offer the best game experience Deuce and I could, and the team wins 38-3, beating Green Bay. What a way to start this new career.” Now entering his third year, Hoss says, “The biggest change is that now it is truly fun. I know how to prepare, seeing some teams multiple times each season, and in the booth on game day I am more relaxed.” Hoss gives tremendous credit to his partner, McAllister.

That invitation eventually led to Hebert’s return to the local WWL airwaves and New Orleans. He says: “It was before Hurricane Katrina, and I was on talking about the draft, then pre- and post-game coverage, and then Buddy died. That’s when it became more of a full-time job.”

“Deuce is so smart,” says Hoss. “It’s like we are watching two different games. He sees stuff before it happens. I’m living my dream and having a blast. It’s seven days a week, and hopefully more than five months, but the New Orleans Saints are a team and an organiza tion that are so much fun to be around.” For Bobby Hebert, affectionately described

Today, Hebert is on the air every afternoon, talking about whatever the hot topic is for the local sports fan: the New Orleans Saints, the Pelicans, LSU, Tulane and more, and sometimes dipping into history and pop culture. “I find to be successful and enter taining you have to be well-read and do your homework,” says Hebert. Coworkers say he’s the hardest-working guy in the radio sports talk game because he does

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Photo courtesy of the New Orleans Saints