I just received a message from Ricky Zeller, the New Orleans Saints Director
of Communications in response to letters the class wrote to the Saints about
our math project that included life size drawings of the Saints. We were so
excited to receive a response!!! This is the third year that I have done
this math project. The last two year we made the Hornets' players and wrote
letters to them. Unfortunately, we never receeved a response from any of
them. Here is the letter from Mr. Zeller.
Heidi:
My daughter, Katherine, gave me the envelope you provided, so you have a
good contact. I talked to a few players about your project analyzing the
Vitruvian Theory, and we actually measured a few players. I had the tape
measure in my hand for only so long, during a locker room period while
players were coming and going while heading to the weight room. I thought
your students may be most interested in Drew Brees and Reggie Bush. Zach
Strief, our tackle and our tallest player, is going to get in touch with you
on his own. I thought knowing about our tallest player would be interesting,
and Zach – very smart, a graduate of Northwestern and an inventor with
patents – is the kind of guy to write on his own.
Drew Brees was heading to the weight room and moving fast. We have Drew
listed at 6-foot-0, though I’ve often heard him say he is 6-foot-1. The
other day he was talking to Terry Bradshaw in an interview, he said he was 6-
foot and three-quarters of an inch. His arm span is 6-foot-3. He saw the
drawings and thought they looked really nice and that they did a great job.
He was happy that his arms were a little longer than his height.
Reggie Bush was sitting at his locker. Reggie is very strong, with a lot of
muscles in his back. It can be hard to get an even measurement of his entire
wingspan because of that, but we did a pretty good job. He is also listed at
6-foot-0. His arm span was measured at 6-foot-1 and a half-inch. Another
interesting thing about Reggie: He has only two percent body fat, whereas a
male in fine shape in the normal population is typically at around 15
percent or even a little more. So he is basically muscle and skin. Reggie
wanted me to tell everyone in the class that athletics is something to
enjoy – to work hard at so you are healthy and strong, but to also pay
particular attention to your studies because nothing is more important.
Reggie was done with working out. He was just sitting around, waiting for
meetings and had more time than Drew to talk. Football players do a lot of
studying as well to learn all the plays for the game.
I was wondering if athletes have longer arms than people who do not play
sports professionally. The Saints’ Director of Communications’ height is a
shade under 6-1, about the same as Drew Brees. But my arm span is nearly 6-
foot-5, so at least in that way I am better than Drew. I’ve always had long
arms. If you haven’t heard from Zach yet, his was very interesting. I’m sure
you will soon.
Have a nice day.
Ricky Zeller
New Orleans Saints
Director of Communications
work: 504.731.1788 cell: 504.421.9356
