• By LES EAST
• Special to The Advocate
• Published: Sep 19, 2009

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METAIRIE — Jahri Evans and Marques Colston will be forever linked in New Orleans Saints lore.

They both were unknown commodities drafted from small colleges in 2006 — Evans, a guard from Bloomsburg State taken in the fourth round, and Colston, a wide receiver from Hofstra taken in the seventh round.

Both were long shots to make the team, let alone be impact players, but both became starters as rookies and have remained fixtures on one of the NFL’s best offenses the last three seasons.

And this week, Evans, a native of Philadelphia, and Colston, a native of not-too-far-away Harrisburg, Pa., are headed home for a game between the Saints and the Eagles.

This is the first time the Pennsylvania pair has played in the Keystone State since New Orleans lost at Pittsburgh in 2006.

“I guess you could say it’s a little bit of a homecoming,” Evans said. “Everybody’s talking trash right now, so it’s pumping me up a little bit. But I’m going to be focused on the game and getting a victory.”

Evans said he grew up as an Eagles fan, but that ended the day the Saints selected him. He went on to earn bragging rights as a rookie as New Orleans beat Philadelphia in a regular-season game and in a divisional-round playoff game.

“We go back and forth with a little trash talk every time this game comes up,” Evans said of his family and friends.

The Eagles won the last meeting in 2007, the third straight matchup played in the Superdome.

Evans, who was a senior when Colston’s younger brother (Stephen) was a freshman at Bloomsburg, said he has scrounged up about 50 tickets for family and friends to attend Sunday’s game.

“When I went up to my homecoming game,” Evans said, “Colston went up to the game as well, because his brother was up there. Colston’s cool and we’re from the same area, and I’m sure he’s getting hit for tickets as well.”

Yes he is — Colston said he had to come up with about 40 tickets to accommodate his family and friends.

Colston, who was slowed by wrist and knee injuries last season, has had 11 games of at least 100 receiving in his career, and his 24 touchdown receptions are tied for eighth in the NFL since 2006.