<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1Vvjc1_0w4EpJxq00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1Vvjc1_0w4EpJxq00" width="1763" height="1175" ></figure>#TheAgenda has an agenda to push.It involves a hashtag, snake emojis and one simple idea: Spencer Rattler is the future of the New Orleans Saints. Chances are if you’ve logged onto X (formerly Twitter) as a Saints fan over the last few months, you have seen — and possibly even participated in — this movement. And, to be clear, it has become a movement. The rookie quarterback can’t be mentioned on the social media platform without a flood of tweets citing #TheAgenda in response.There have been hundreds, if not thousands, who have joined #TheAgenda, even popular ESPN analyst Mina Kimes. All before Rattler has played a single NFL snap.But this weekend Rattler will finally get the chance that Saints fans — and those behind #TheAgenda — have clamored for. With Derek Carr out with an oblique injury, the Saints will start Rattler in Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.Suddenly, Rattler’s start presents hope in what would otherwise be a grim situation. The Saints have lost three straight. Their starting quarterback is hurt, out multiple weeks. And just like last year, a promising 2-0 start has gone to waste.It can be a lot to put on a rookie’s shoulders. As much as the team’s fanbase is anticipating Rattler’s debut, the Saints are still turning to someone who lasted until the fifth round in this year’s NFL draft. Rattler hasn’t been active for a single game — as the Saints chose to have Jake Haener, a 2023 fourth-rounder, serve as Carr’s backup.Coach Dennis Allen, too, went as far to not promise Rattler anything beyond this week, and he told reporters that Carr would resume being the starter when healthy.But that doesn’t quite fit #TheAgenda. * * *Bryan Bieniemy has an agenda to push.The New Orleans native isn’t claiming to be the originator of #TheAgenda — we'll get to that in a second — but Bieniemy will note how in June, he responded to a tweet from an aggregator account called NFL Rumors that said: The “Saints believe they got a steal in Spencer Rattler. Rattler has been IMPRESSIVE so far,” the account wrote.“This is a lie but I’m ok with it because I have an agenda to push!!” Bieniemy replied. “SNAKE SZN!!”Bieniemy’s tweet was one of the first instances of a Rattler-based agenda taking hold.Rattler’s selection enticed Saints fans in a way that Haener — taken a year earlier in the fourth round — did not. Despite being the 150th overall pick, the 23-year-old Rattler arrived with a prestigious background. He was the nation’s No. 1 quarterback recruit who committed to Oklahoma, and though he was benched for Caleb Williams, Rattler dazzled after transferring to South Carolina.“(This is) a guy that’s been able to thrive in chaos,” Bieniemy said. “He reminds us of us, somebody that had the chips stacked against them.”It wasn't until August, however, that #TheAgenda as a movement came to form. During Rattler’s first preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals, Ryan Hinton penned a tweet at 8:55 p.m. that simply said: “#TheAgenda,” including a snake emoji. Based on X's advanced search option, the tweet appears to be the first mention of the hashtag in relation to Rattler.“We were just playing around, and it took off,” said Hinton, a co-host of the “Saints Block Party Podcast.”“It’s just funny how social media is,” he said. “It just takes on its own life. You’re not trying to do anything or start any kind of movement.”From there, #TheAgenda spread. It reached a fever pitch Aug. 29 when Kimes referenced the hashtag and Saints’ fans excitement on her own podcast. She said how anytime she tweeted about Rattler, her mentions get filled with “snake emojis and #TheAgenda.” She compared the group to a “rebel alliance” who just wanted to see Rattler play over Carr."It's an incredibly funny draft pick, because you could really not build a quarterback in a lab more different than Derek Carr than Spencer Rattler," Kimes said then.Adam West, the other co-host of the Saints Block Party Podcast, doesn’t necessarily see himself and others who have pushed the agenda as rebels. But perhaps fittingly, he said #TheAgenda reminds him of a quote from "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," in which a character says, “Rebellions are built on hope.”“There’s not a rebellion, per se, but there’s this hope that there may be an answer to the quarterback position,” West said.* * *Mike Giovando has an agenda to push.Technically speaking, the Arizona-based quarterbacks coach is not part of #TheAgenda. Giovando has seen — and been amused by — the memes and hashtag on social media, but knew little about its background.Still, if there’s anyone who can speak to Rattler’s growth, it’s Giovando: The pair have been working together since the quarterback was 11. Giovando has seen Rattler thrive in adverse situations — enough to believe the quarterback can handle the unideal set of circumstances, with the Saints down three starters along the offensive line.At South Carolina, Rattler was sacked 71 times across two seasons. During those games, Giovando saw how Rattler “never got on his guys” and how the quarterback would instead pat the player who missed the block on the back after the play.“He's not going to panic, and he's not going to point fingers, and he's not going to do any of that stuff, because that's not how he is,” Giovando said.When the Saints drafted Rattler, Allen said he was a fan of how Rattler responded to adversity. He pointed to Rattler’s performance against North Carolina, when the quarterback was sacked nine times and still managed to throw for 353 yards.But Rattler has experienced adversity more than just on the field. At 17, he received criticism for how he came across on a Netflix documentary about rising quarterbacks — which those around Rattler say wasn’t an accurate portrayal of the quarterback. Then, after being benched at Oklahoma, Rattler transferred to South Carolina — where he’d have to rebuild his stock.“It is cool when a guy has been in multiple programs and has had to leave a place and start over and earn the respect of their teammates and lead a new team,” Saints offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak said. “I think there's a lot to be said about that. … I think that really helps in their maturity.”Kubiak said Rattler has some “swag” about him — something he then tried to downplay because “at the end of the day, are you producing?” A quarterback could have a “wet blanket” personality like himself, Kubiak joked, as long as he could win games.But Rattler’s teammates and other coaches have observed the same, perhaps an explanation for why fans have been so quick to believe in the quarterback.“First game I ever saw him play, I was like, ‘Man, this little dude has got it,’” Giovando said. “He’s standing in the pocket. He was just calm, cool, just balling out, having fun. … He just kind of knew he was good.“He knew he was good without having to tell everyone he was good.”* * *Spencer Rattler has no agenda to push.Asked about the fan reaction, and the #TheAgenda specifically, Rattler said he’s focused only on the game. “I’ve got a lot of other stuff to worry about,” he said. Rattler has spent the week trying to get up to speed after finding out Tuesday he was slated for the start.“It’s been different, for sure,” Rattler said. “A lot more on my plate, but it’s been awesome. I’ve been taking full advantage of it, preparing at even a higher level. Really dialing in on all the little details. That’s been the big thing for me.”Truthfully, #TheAgenda doesn’t need Rattler’s endorsement to carry on. Fans have already bought in. One fan, for instance, posted AI-generated art of a snake with a crown, sitting atop Caesars Superdome. Another took a video of himself smoking a cigar to celebrate the news of Rattler’s start.#TheAgenda has been waiting for this moment, too. The group wasn’t necessarily waiting for Carr to get hurt, but Bieniemy said fans were “waiting in the wings for him to slip up before we pushed the agenda again.”When recording their podcast, Hinton said he and West regularly discuss the Saints’ long-term vision. And for years, in the aftermath of Brees’ retirement in 2021, the duo didn’t see one — until Rattler was drafted.“This just interjects just a little more excitement and just that unknown, like, ‘Hey, what if we have something here in Spencer Rattler?’” Hinton said. “Say they don't win, but say he does show some promise." Promise is hope. And that's what #TheAgenda is trying to push.</div></body>

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Spencer Rattler and #TheAgenda: Inside the fan-driven craze over the Saints rookie quarterback

#TheAgenda has an agenda to push. It involves a hashtag, snake emojis and one simple idea: Spencer Rattler is the future of the New Orleans Saints. Chances are if you’ve logged onto X (formerly Twitter) as a Saints fan over the last few months, you have seen — and possibly even participated in — this movement. And, to be clear, it has become a movement. The rookie quarterback can’t be mentioned on the social media platform without a flood of tweets citing #TheAgenda in response.

Spencer Rattler and #TheAgenda: Inside the fan-driven craze over the Saints rookie quarterback

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