NEW ORLEANS - A minister and a former coach describe the man accused of gunning down former Saints player Will Smith as a soft-spoken man who always calls older women "ma'am" and was a team leader in high school.

Minister Sha'Teek Nobles and Lee Green, who coached Cardell Hayes from 2001 to 2005, take issue with Arizona Cardinals' safety Tyrann Mathieu's tweeted description of Hayes as "a hating ... coward."

Hayes is in jail, accused of firing eight bullets along the left side of Smith's back.

Attorney Peter Thomson says Smith's wife, Racquel, was shot in both legs, and Hayes stood over them afterward, yelling. He says Smith had driven his SUV around a Hummer that had stopped abruptly, and the Hummer than rammed their Mercedes hard enough to shatter the back windshield.