I am a Saint!

I am many things.  Among them I am a Saint!

To truly appreciate the New Orleans Saints’ Super Bowl XLIV championship, you have to understand their history.  I was born in New Orleans on December, 4, 1962.  I wasn’t born with a Saints pennant in my hand because the team did not yet exist, but just four years later I adopted the black and gold.  On November 1, 1966, appropriately enough on All Saints Day, Commissioner Pete Rozelle announced New Orleans received an NFL franchise.

The future looked so bright when Saints played their first NFL regular season game on September 17, 1967, against the Los Angeles Rams in Tulane Stadium.  (Yeah, you young ‘uns, the Rams used to be in LA.)  John Gilliam returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, but the Saints lost 27-13.  From there, it was a downhill ride.  New Orleans finished with a 3-11 record.  The franchise did not have a winning season until two decades later.  A rare highlight came on November 8, 1970 when Tom Dempsey, a player with a club as a right foot, kicked an NFL record 63 yard field goal on the final play of the game to beat Detroit 19-17.

The Saints moved into a new home in 1974 with the opening of the Louisiana Superdome, but playing in the largest fixed structure in the world did not change their losing ways. The team’s on-field misery hit a crescendo in 1980 when the Saints began the season with 14 consecutive losses.  A local sportscaster called on fans to go to games with bags over their heads.  They listened and that signaled the birth of the inglorious “Aints.”

New Orleans played its first ever playoff game in 1987, but lost to Minnesota 44-10.  The Saints lost their next three playoff games as well. It wasn’t until December 30, 2000, that the Saints won a post-season game thanks to a 31-28 victory over the Rams.

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina roared ashore.  The category 5 storm killed approximately two thousand people, forced the levee system to fail sending hundreds of thousands out of their homes, and caused $81 billion in damage making it the costliest Atlantic hurricane ever.  The Saints’ home field became “home” to about 30,000 Katrina refugees.  It took $185 million to repair and refurbish the dome inside and out.  That forced the distracted New Orleans squad to play its entire 2005 schedule on the road with “home” games at Louisiana State University, San Antonio and another at Giants Stadium in New Jersey.

In a major emotional boost to the struggling city of New Orleans, the vagabond Saints returned home to the Superdome on September 25, 2006 for a nationally telecast Monday Night game against the Atlanta Falcons.  The repaired roof just about came down again only 1:25 into the game when Steve Gleason, a player whose college career at Washington State I covered as sportscaster, broke through the line and made one of the most emotionally-charged plays in franchise history.

The Saints advanced to the NFC Championship that season, but failed to get past Chicago to qualify for their first Super Bowl.  However, all that changed in 2009.  Riding the golden arm of quarterback Drew Brees and his 4,388 yards passing and 34 TDs, and an opportunistic big play defense, New Orleans finished with a 13-3 record.  The Saints then rolled over Arizona, slipped by Minnesota and defeated Indianapolis 31-17 to win Super Bowl XLIV.  Just four short years after the physical and emotional demoralization and devastation of Katrina, the New Orleans Saints became Super Bowl Champions.

The Saints may be just another team to many, but this victory was not just another win for another team in another sport.  This victory brought a restored sense of vitality, hope and enthusiasm to a region still gasping to recover from disaster.  (And with that same fighting spirit, I know it will overcome the effects of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico too.) I teared up when I watched Katrina unleash its fury on the city of my birth.  I yelled for joy when Tracy Porter returned a Peyton Manning interception for a touchdown and clinched victory for the Saints in Super Bowl XLIV.  I had a huge lump in my throat as I watched tears fill the eyes of Drew Brees while holding his young son on the field as the confetti fell from on high.

I am many things.  Among them I am a Saint.  A very proud Saint!  (Super Bowl XLIV highlights below)