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‘Weird’ day for ex-Bear Kreutz

NEW ORLEANS — Former Bears center Olin Kreutz remained true to his personality when he refused to turn the matchup against his old team into a circus.

“It was no more than we needed a win,” Kreutz said Sunday after his new team, the New Orleans Saints, buried the Bears 30-13. “We were 0-1 and they were 1-0. We needed a win to get to 1-1.

“It was weird to see them, but it was just one game out of 16. It was a win and we’re 1-1.”

Surly, crusty, and sometimes blunt while a Bear, Kreutz also could allow occasional peeks at his true feelings. He did it Sunday to a small degree after helping defeat the team for which he played for 13 seasons — the team that also let him leave over a scant $500,000 difference of opinion.

“It was great to see those guys,” he said. “I have tons of respect for them, the whole organization.

“They were like family before.”

It was even better for him to see them when he was in a winning situation. In the opener against Green Bay, Kreutz and the interior of the Saints’ line got blown up on a goal-line play to end the game. It went better against the Bears.

New Orleans ran for 118 yards, 40 more than in its opening-day loss to Green Bay, and complemented Drew Brees’ 270 passing yards. A week after giving up 3 sacks, Kreutz and the line allowed the Bears only 1 sack — by defensive end Israel Idonije — and, more important, kept the Bears completely at bay on the game’s most critical play.

No Bears pass rusher got near Brees when he stood in the pocket long enough to throw 41 yards downfield to wide receiver Devery Henderson, who caught it and ran 38 more yards for the 79-yard TD that gave New Orleans the lead for good at 10-7.

“I’m just a piece to this puzzle,” Kreutz said. “This offense is a very good offense. They executed and they put points on the board. It’s fun to be on.”

Kreutz doesn’t even mind all the shotgun snaps he has to make — something it was often rumored he hated doing while with the Bears.

“He’s a rare quarterback,” Kreutz said about Brees. “The top quarterbacks in the league make everybody around them better, and he does a nice job of that.”

Saints fans apparently appreciate Kreutz. They showered him with yells of “Kreutz” as he came out during pregame player introductions, making it sound the way Soldier Field would sound when Muhsin Muhammad used to be introduced as “Moose.”

The Saints apparently appreciate the former Bear, as well. They’ve made him one of their captains.

“I’m shocked,” he said of the appointment to a leadership role. “I don’t know what it meant. It’s just been a whirlwind. My head is still spinning.

“I am still just trying to really learn how to do things (in the offense). I’ve only been here about a month-and-a-half. I’m not worried about leading anyone; I am just worried about doing my job.”

Ultimately, Kreutz was just glad to have this matchup in his past. It loomed ever since he signed a one-year, $2 million, incentive-laced deal with the Saints after rejecting the Bears’ $4 million offer.

The same was true with Bears players who had to face him.

“It was fun, he made it fun, talking to us and coaching us up and everything,” nose tackle Anthony Adams said. “It was everything he always does. You can tell he’s still a Bears fan.

“Even though they were up, he was still telling us ‘hey, man, you’re kind of heavy on your stance,’ or you’re doing this or you’re doing that.

“It’s like playing against your dad or something.”