T he Christmas holidays are often sad times for families in the National Football League.
Since the season for most teams usually ends in late December, that is when team owners and head coaches make decisions as to personnel moving forward and those decision can make for awkward situations.
I well remember my first Christmas with the New Orleans Saints. It was another losing season for the franchise and the team’s Director of Player Personnel, Henry Lee Parker, and his wife were having a Christmas party at their house on Dec. 20 and my wife and I were planning to go.
The morning of the party, around 10 a.m., I received a phone call from head coach J.D. Roberts informing me that Parker had been terminated and was no longer with the organization.
Merry Christmas, Henry Lee.
As director of public relations, it was my job to inform the media of the coach’s decision. At the time, it was the toughest release I had ever written. The only one tougher to write to that point in my career was the one informing the media that Archie had suffered a broken arm in a game against Houston while he was at Ole Miss.
But, the arm would mend. A termination was permanent.
After getting the word out about Parker’s termination, it was time to start getting ready for the party.
My wife didn’t think it was a good idea to go.
“They probably cancelled the party,” she said. “Why don’t you call Henry Lee and check it out?”
No one in the organization was closer to Henry Lee than I was. He was Boo Ferriss’ brother-in-law and he had been instrumental in helping me land my job with the Saints.
That was the hardest phone call I had ever made.
“What do you mean is the party still on?” Henry Lee inquired.
He was so matter of fact that I wondered if he had been told of his termination.
“Absolutely,” he continued, adding: “It’s going to be a blast tonight!”
And indeed it was. Martha and I were among the first to arrive, along with Parker’s secretary, who was also soon to be looking for another job.
Henry Lee would not let his guests mope around in the doldrums of his situation. He acted as the bartender for the first round of drinks for each guest and was the host of hosts throughout the night.
Martha and I had a great evening, but as was usual with us, we were not the last to leave.
I talked with Henry Lee the next day and told him how much we enjoyed the party and he responded: “Me, too, pal!” Nothing was said about the circumstances surrounding the event.
Roberts did not attend the party, by the way, and neither did Saints Chief Financial Officer Eddie Jones and his wife. There may have been others who didn’t show, but that was their loss.
Martha and I both agreed that Henry Lee took the high road that night and could hold his head high.
I don’t remember other terminations while I was with the organization, but that one was the first and it hit me hard, coming as it did during the Christmas holidays. The time was a joyous one for me up until that moment. Although it was a party, I don’t think anyone there thought of it being Christmas.
It was just a party and we all were making the best of a bad situation.
And we did.
And Martha and I were both glad we decided to go.
And so were Henry Lee and his wife, Martha Ann.
