The New Orleans Saints are doing their part to try to get people vaccinated as COVID cases are surging in Louisiana ... trading signed jerseys for shots at their training camp Friday.
N.O. officials made the vaccines available to fans at their practice facility in Metairie ... and encouraged people to show up by giving away autographed Michael Thomas and Cameron Jordan swag.
And, while they limited the cool gear to just the first 15 people who got the shots, the gesture is a powerful one ... considering how bad COVID is hitting the state at the moment.
More than 20,000 people have tested positive for the virus in Louisiana in the last week ... making it arguably the nation's biggest COVID hotspot area.
Of course, Sean Payton knows all too well the effects of the virus ... the Saints head man was the first big NFLer to test positive for COVID in 2020, and battled fever and chills in his bout with it.
Perhaps not coincidentally, Payton's team has been lauded as one of the best when it comes to vaccine rates ... with reportedly over 85% of the squad already vaccinated.