Longtime Saints Assistant Equipment Manager Retires

In a small, but noteworthy story that has escaped our attention in the last three days, Glennon "Silky" Powell, who has been with the New Orleans Saints since 1974, has decided to call it a career. He worked his final day with the team on Friday, June 1.

I stumbled across the story (that originally ran on Thursday) on the sportsnola.com yesterday, and after checking the Fleur-de-Links, realized that in all the hooplah over the OTAs, Pamphilongate, ShowMeTheEvidenceGate, Ledgergate, and the release of Mitch King, this story has slipped past us unnoticed.

But no more. It has now been officially noticed.

Brian Allee-Walsh quoted Powell, who was the second-longest tenured Saints employee, thusly in the piece:

"It's been a pleasure to come to work every day,'' Powell said Thursday from inside the team's equipment room. "I've pretty much seen it all -- the 1-15 season (in 1980), Hurricane Katrina, the Super Bowl and all the stuff that's gone on this offseason. I guess you could say 'the good, the bad and the ugly.' And I've loved every minute of it."

I did a bit of digging on Powell, and realized that when last we saw him (other than shagging wrap and tape or Juicy Fruit on the sideline), he was receiving the Joseph Gemelli "Fleur de Lis Award" from the Saints Hall of Fame in October of 2010, along with his boss, head equipment manager Dan Simmons.

Here's a link to his Saints bio page, which includes only his name, job title, and picture. If you click here, you can go to the 'Beyond The Visor' search results page, which shows that I never did a 'Beyond the Visor' feature on him. Clicking here gets you the Silky Powell CSC archive page, showing his mentions in four stories and three JND comments (they went to high school together!).

As for his future plans in his Golden Years, Allee-Walsh reports...

Powell, 65, said he will assume his new role as the family "bus driver'' for his three young children and wife Connie, in addition to being on call for his old friend and current Saints equipment manager, Dan "Chief'' Simmons.

Take a bow, and have a nice retirement, Glen. Thank you for your 38 years of unsung service to the equipment and gear needs of the New Orleans Saints football team.

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So, what do you think the Saints will do to replace him: look to the waiver wire, promote from within, or perhaps in light of this tough economy, save a buck by just spreading his duties out among the remaining crew?