A banner at the Saints' Champions Square showing former CB Tracy Porter clinching the '10 Super Bowl with his late interception return for a touchdown "is coming down" because also pictured in the image is former NFLer and "now confessed serial rapist" Darren Sharper, according to John Simerman of the Baton Rouge ADVOCATE. Saints Senior VP/Marketing & Business Development Ben Hales said of the decision to remove the image featuring Sharper, "It’s common sense. We don’t even want the perception that that’s an individual we’re celebrating." Hales said that other images "may also be removed, or at least 'freshened up,' in the makeover of the entertainment square outside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome." But he was "unable to specify any other banners that could be on the chopping block." Hales was "uncertain whether the team store still sold Sharper jerseys but noted that the team’s role is limited with gear licensed by the NFL." Simerman notes Champions Square will "retain some of the non-football images" -- including Int'l Boxing HOFer Muhammad Ali "landing a right hook to the face" of former heavyweight champion Leon Spinks during a '78 bout at the Superdome. But weathered decor "will be updated with a design that incorporates the Pelicans, and with different lighting effects." Hales said that the decision to redo the square "came shortly after the football season and was unrelated to the criminal charges against" Sharper (Baton Rouge ADVOCATE, 5/13).
