The novel coronavirus has spread rapidly throughout the nation, hitting vulnerable populations like the elderly harder than most. That group includes big figures in New Orleans Saints lore such as the legendary Tom Dempsey, whose NFL-record 63-yard field goal at the old Tulane Stadium stood for 43 years. On Monday, the Times-Picayune’s Ramon Antonio Vargas reported that Dempsey tested positive for the coronavirus.
Dempsey, 73, has been a resident of the New Orleans-based Lambeth House Retirement Community, one of many nursing homes battling coronavirus infections. Because he is battling both Alzheimer’s and dementia, his family and the Tulane University Medical Center (which tested him for the coronavirus) agreed that he should continue to stay at Lambeth House.