Terron Armstead fought back the tears Friday afternoon with the same determination he fought through everything else in his NFL career.
All the injuries.
All the heartbreak.
All the disappointments.
And all those opposing edge rusher who rarely stood a chance whenever they lined up across from one of the greatest tackles in New Orleans Saints' history.
Armstead handled all of that, a big reason he was back in the Saints’ facility on Friday for the first time since 2021.
He is being recognized as the "Legend of the Game" for the Saints’ season opener against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
This will no doubt be a season opener Armstead will never forget.
It'll be the first one since the Saints drafted him in 2013 that he isn’t wearing shoulder pads and a helmet.
Armstead, who spent his first nine seasons in New Orleans and the past three seasons with the Miami Dolphins, retired in April. A knee that needs to be replaced simply wouldn’t allow him to play any longer.
But it won’t stop Armstead from being on a football field Sunday right around noon leading the Who Dat chant.
There’s no place he’d rather spend his first game post-retirement than the city and team that helped shape him.
“This team holds a true place in my heart,” Armstead said. “Everything that I am and everything that I aspire to be is as a Saint. That’s a mindset, a lifestyle to me. It’s never to be taken for granted.”
Armstead first thanked team owner Gayle Benson, team president Dennis Lauscha and general manager Mickey Loomis, who sat on the front row.
“I truly appreciate you for changing my life and my family’s life,” Armstead said. “For allowing me to have a chance to change our lineage, the meaning of our last name.”
Samuel Armstead, the man whose last name Terron wore on the back of his jersey every Sunday, sat proudly on the front row.
Terron Armstead is a hero to his dad. And his dad is a hero to him.
That wasn’t always the case, as Terron explained when asked what motivated him to be so dedicated to his craft despite all the injuries he endured.
As a kid growing up in Illinois, Terron didn’t know the demons his father was facing.
“Damn, why hasn’t Dad hasn’t been home in one or two days?” Terron would ask himself.
He later found out it was alcohol and drug addiction.
By the time Armstead went to college at Arkansas-Pine Bluff, his relationship with his dad had soured.
“I went to college mad at him, p---- off,” Armstead said. “… It drove me through college. I wanted to be better than him.”
When Armstead was drafted by the Saints in 2013, his father began living with him. The pivotal moment in the relationship came the night Armstead had gone to dinner with some of the other offensive linemen. His dad was at home with Armstead’s twin daughters. But his dad had passed out by the time Terron returned home.
Armstead cried. Then he gave his dad an ultimatum.
“If you don’t fix this, fight this, combat this, you’ll never see me or my kids again,” Armstead said. “He’s been clean since that day.”
Armstead drove his father to a rehab center in New Orleans East the next day, and the guy who he looked up to became his hero again.
“He is the fighter,” Armstead said while proudly looking at his dad. “That fighting DNA (in me)? That’s where it comes from.”
But New Orleans also taught Armstead how to fight. The city and its people are tough. And it helped make Armstead even tougher on his way to making three Pro Bowls and one All-Pro team as a Saint. He was named to two more Pro Bowls in Miami. Yeah, he missed some games due to injury, playing in 13 or more games in just four of his nine seasons here. But there were some other games he played with injuries that nobody ever knew about. His response to those who label him injury prone?
“Shut up, I’m resilient,” Armstead said. “It comes from this city. This city has been through tragedy. But this city celebrates in spite of tragedy and in the face of heartbreak. I adopted that. It’s the reason I played for 12 years. My career was supposed to be over in three or four.”
Armstead played through physical pain. And he also played through the kind of pain that never shows up on the injury report. His brother was killed during the 2020 season. NFL players weren’t allowed to fly on commercial airplanes that season due to the COVID pandemic. So Ms. Benson allowed Armstead to travel to the funeral on her private jet. Armstead returned to New Orleans in time to play in a game against the San Francisco 49ers.
Armstead cried in the locker room before the game. A team captain, he cried at midfield during the coin toss, too.
“The other team saw me, but I didn’t care,” Armstead said.
After every offensive series, he would head to the sideline and sit on the bench and cry.
Alvin Kamara, Latavius Murray and the offensive lineman would surround him. By the time the game ended, the entire team had joined in. The Saints beat the 49ers 27-13 that day. But for Armstead, the final score really wouldn’t have mattered.
“That’s not just football,” Armstead said. “That is a family. That moment is deeper than the sport. I cannot express enough my gratitude.”
On Sunday, the Saints get to show a little gratitude back by honoring Armstead as a legend of the game. He'll do come work in the media this season. And he'll get to spend more time watching his daughters play middle school basketball. He was offered a coaching job by Sean Payton two days after he announced his retirement, but declined. He knows how demanding the schedule would be working for his old coach.
But he knows he will always continue to pour into others in some capacity. The life lessons he's learned are ones that he knows can help others.
The biggest lesson is this one.
“Storms don’t last always,” Armstead said. “The sun comes out. But you’ve got to keep doing things the right way.”
For nine years in New Orleans, Armstead did just that.
Through blood, sweat and plenty of tears. Including the ones he was able to hold back Friday.