Marques Colston was born in Harrisburg, Pa., played college football for Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., and currently resides in south New Jersey.
But this weekend, and every day thereafter, he'll officially belong to Louisiana, too.
The 10 seasons he played for the New Orleans Saints were enough to carve his name into the state's athletic lore, so much that Louisiana has staked its claim to a portion of "The Quiet Storm" with one of its highest honors: Colston will be inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday, Aug. 28.
He will join seven others in the 2021 class – former LSU greats Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (basketball) and Glenn Dorsey (football), former Southern star Rickie Weeks (baseball), Pat Henry (LSU track), Courtney Blades Rogers (softball), Mackie Freeze (high school football) and Villis "Bo" Dowden (fishing).
Colston played his entire NFL career in New Orleans, beginning in 2006, and helped the Saints win Super Bowl XLIV in 2009. And he has a good grasp of what it means to be joining the LSHOF.
"It's not something that you ever prepare for, it's not something that's on the radar while I was playing," he said. "But just having an understanding of some of the other athletes that are in the Hall of Fame down there in that state, and knowing that I'm kind of an outsider – I'm kind of an adopted son in the state – it means a lot. It means a ton."
Probably, it's akin to what Colston meant to the Saints during his career. He's the franchise all-time leader in receptions (711), receiving yards (9,759), receiving touchdowns and total touchdowns (both 72), yards from scrimmage (9,766), 1,000-yard receiving seasons (six) and games played by a receiver (146, with 106 starts).
"The Quiet Storm," Saints senior offensive assistant/receivers coach Curtis "C.J." Johnson said. "Marques is one of my favorites. We kind of grew together when we first got here. He was in the first draft (in 2006), seventh-round pick, and he made the most of everything. Quiet guy, we still talk every once in a while, wonderful wife, good son and daughter. He's like one of my favorites."
The humble demeanor Colston displayed was as rare as his ability to claim a roster spot and flourish as pick No. 252 overall, four spots from the final selection in the draft.
Almost every catch – from big third-down conversion to momentum-shifting touchdown to take-a-savage-hit-in-traffic – was met with a simple flip of the ball to the nearest official. There was nothing to suggest attention-seeker, but now the attention is being showered on him.
"Yeah, I'm comfortable with it," he said, laughing. "A lot of it is just personality driven. I knew when I stepped in the building, whether it was the practice facility or the Superdome, I knew I was there to do a job and that's kind of the way I conducted myself.
"But this recognition, it's awesome just to be able to share it with the people along the way that helped me get to that point. It's awesome to be able to share it with my family, especially my son, my daughter and my wife. They kind of caught the tail end of my journey, so to be able to go back and really relive a lot of these moments with them, that's what this kind of recognition is about for me."
Johnson fully is capable of reliving the moments. Johnson joined Coach Sean Payton's staff in 2006 and stayed through 2011, then accepted jobs at Tulane (head coach, 2012-15) and the Bears (receivers coach, 2016) before returning to New Orleans in 2017.
He was Colston's first NFL position coach. And then, as now, Johnson was demanding.
"I had some choice threats for him," Johnson said, smiling. "But the one thing about Marques, he always aimed to please. Good guy, better person than was a player and he was a great player for us.
"With Marques, you look at tape, made millions and millions of plays. You just love a guy like that. Didn't say 'boo.' This guy was very quiet."
Quiet, and willing to learn from Johnson.
"C.J. was huge," Colston said. "He was huge. That tough love early on, when you're coming into the league as a young player, you have an idea of how intense it's going to be and what it's going to be like.
"Having a chance to meet C.J., knowing the guys that he coached prior to him coming to the Saints – the Santana Mosses, the Reggie Waynes, the Andre Johnsons (at the University of Miami) – knowing how big of a role he played in their careers, it made that tough love a little bit easier to accept. Because you know what he's molding you into.
"So having somebody like that really early in my career that really kept the pressure on me and never allowed me to get to a place where I felt comfortable, that was huge in my growth and my progression."
He progressed nicely, all the way to the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, riding a decade-long playing career into becoming a state treasure.
"I'd say the thing that I prided myself on was consistency," Colston said. "I like to think that when I stepped in the building, you knew the kind of production you were going to get game in, game out, season in, season out.
"And playing at that high of a level, that was the thing that was the most important to me, just being able to have my teammates, have my coaches, the organization understand and anticipate the production and the player that they were going to get.
"A recognition like this, it only comes through being able to consistently play at a high level. So, that was the thing that was the most important to me."
