JACKSON, Miss. ― Jeremy Shockey smiled.

No more than five minutes into his first news conference as a New Orleans Saint, the question he was all but waiting for finally popped up out of a reporter’s mouth.

“Are you happy to be in a little more media friendly and less media intense environment than New York City,” asked the reporter.

Associated Press

Jeremy Shockey

Said Shockey, “I knew that question was coming out sooner or later. Actually, I think my family is. They’re the ones, my mother especially, that read the newspaper. I always hear about it from my brother and it doesn’t really bother me.

“Obviously, I’d like to just concentrate on football besides looking to be a distraction, being in the paper, being out here, going over here, this city, whatever. It gets out of control a little bit.

“Obviously, I’m happy. I’m happy in the situation more than anything else.”

And with that, the Shockey Era truly begins for the Saints three days after a late offseason trade with the New York Giants worked itself out.

Long rumored to be taking place from February through draft day in April, it fell apart when the Giants didn’t think they would be getting full worth out of a trade for a player who has four Pro Bowl selections under his belt.

In the end, all it took were a second and fifth round pick in the 2009 draft.

“I think New York got a fair package,” Shockey said. “Hopefully, New Orleans will have a really good package. It’s a very good situation.”

What the Saints get is a tight end with impressive credentials, though his future is a bit murky. It all depends on whether he can return to his previous form or whether the fibula he broke during the 2007 season has a drastic effect on him.

Shockey participated in much of Thursday’s morning practice, but barely took part in drills during the afternoon session.

Prior to the injury, Shockey, a former first-round pick, recorded 371 career catches for 4,228 yards and 27 touchdowns. He started 82 of 83 games and ended his Giants’ career as the franchise’s fifth-leading receiver.

“He has versatility,” Saints head coach Sean Payton said. “He can block in the running game and he has enough speed to get up the field. He brings an emotional juice to the huddle, which I think is a good thing.”

But it’s that “emotional juice” that got Shockey in trouble in New York. He departs the Big Apple with a reputation as a locker room menace and poor teammate.

During the Giants run to the Super Bowl this past season, much was made of Shockey’s unhappiness. He allegedly wanted to be a first option. He allegedly was miffed that he couldn’t get on the sideline for the big game. He allegedly was many other things besides pleasant.

Don’t buy any of it, he said.

“The things that were written, that I was unhappy, I never said anything in the paper,” Shockey said. “They just wrote their own thing, their own synopsis. I’m very happy for those guys up there – coaches, everyone. They did a great job and they deserved everything they got.”

Don’t believe all you read and hear, however, new teammate Jonathan Vilma said.

“We played two years at the University of Miami,” said Vilma, who comes to New Orleans after a spring trade with the New York Jets. “We lost one game in those two years. We won a championship together. It’s great. I know a whole lot about him.

“A lot of people hear the outside stuff, the negative comments, the bad stuff. I know Shockey as a teammate and as a player and as a person and he’s great. I love to have him on my team.”

He’s not alone. Quarterback Drew Brees was on of the first players to get in touch with Shockey. After playing two seasons in San Diego with Antonio Gates as a standout tight end, he was missing that game-changing player to throw to at that position.

Now he’s got his man.

“I immediately called Coach Payton just to make sure that it was true and Coach has always had a lot of great things to say about Shockey,” Brees said.

He added, “He’s such a big target and he has that – a lot of the great players, when they get close to the end zone, have that switch that goes off in their heads – he seems like one of those guys and he’ll be another weapon down there.”

Being reunited with Payton, who coached Shockey during the player’s breakout rookie season, isn’t a bad thing, either.

“He did a great job of helping me learn to be a pro,” Shockey said. “Playing every day in the NFL is to come to work and be ready to work. That is what he really preached. He talked a lot about paying attention to the small details. It hasn’t changed.”

Shockey, though, still has an edge. When asked about whether he had ever been to Bourbon Street, Shockey said yes. But he did it in a very Shockey way.

“I did play in the Sugar Bowl when I was in college and it wasn't very good for the Gators, on the field and off – and that was on Bourbon Street,” Shockey said.