By Gene Schallenberg
In the midst of a season and place in which beads, doubloons and plastic cups are hurled from elaborately decorated floats much more often than footballs, a time in which football is usually the furthest thing from most New Orleanians’ minds, the Saints still have a game to play.
Yes, the Saints are in the Super Bowl.
It’s just something that has to be read or heard at least twice to really let it soak in. Even thinking about it now, the idea is still pretty surreal.
It has been two weeks to the day since second-year kicker Garrett Hartley’s now legendary field goal in overtime of the NFC Championship Game against the Vikings which sent the Saints to the Super Bowl.
Longtime play-by-play announcer Jim Henderson made a call to end all calls: “Snap, placement, kick by Hartley, and it is ... AND IT’S GOOD! IT’S GOOD! IT’S GOOD! Pigs have flown! Hell has frozen over! The Saints are on their way to the Super Bowl!”
For any lifelong Saints fan, myself included, it’s a moment that sears itself into your memory, one that you’ll remember where you were and who was next to you.
Really the only way to describe what it was like to see my favorite team ever since I can remember get to the Super Bowl the way they did was just pure elation. Yes, there were some tears.
I believed it would finally happen, especially after the kind of season the Saints have had, but when that kick went through, I couldn’t believe they had actually done it.
I’ll admit that I wasn’t around for the truly forgettable seasons from the Saints’ inception to the final years of Archie Manning and Co..
But I’ve been a fan long enough to remember people wearing paper bags from Schwegmann’s on their heads at games.
For those of us who have stuck by the boys in black and gold throughout the years — it’s much easier to count the number of winning seasons the Saints have had on your hands than the ones where fans had already starting making plans for Mardi Gras by midseason — it’s been especially meaningful to see what has transpired this season and in the playoffs.
From an early age
It all started for me at a young age. It’s difficult to remember exactly when I began cheering for the Saints, but some of my fondest childhood memories involve watching those guys play.
Maybe it’s hard to pinpoint it because that’s just always the way it was.
Sunday afternoons in the fall, watching the Saints was a given, no matter how difficult it may have been. Like eating and breathing, cheering on the Saints was just something that came naturally.
Even if the Saints lost, which was a frequent occurrence, up until these past few years, it didn’t seem to matter. They were my team and I supported them no matter what.
Unshakable loyalty
Much has been made of the loyalty New Orleanians have to the Saints and there is a strong bond. In a way it’s kind of hard to describe how much the team means to its faithful followers. Arguably, there’s a deeper connection between the team and its fans than anywhere else.
But don’t let the national media fool you, it’s not entirely because of Hurricane Katrina, which thrashed New Orleans and the Gulf Coast nearly four and a half years ago, although that is a significant subplot of the story.
After talking with my Uncle Johnny about his Super Bowl plans, which included having several friends and family members stop by for a big get-together, he reiterated that point, “If anything, the people of New Orleans have connected more with the players.”
Part of that can be chalked up to the fact that Saints players and coaches, including quarterback Drew Brees live in the city and have taken an active role in the rebuilding process.
Unlike the Rams or the Cardinals, the Saints are a New Orleans original. They didn’t originate somewhere else and relocate.
The Saints belong to New Orleans, the Saints are New Orleans. There is a great sense of pride and there’s nothing like it. Ask anyone from southern Louisiana how good seafood dishes are from other states. The reaction, to put it simply, would be less than appetizing.
The Saints are like family and their fans have a special bond to the team and stick by them through thick and thin. That’s why after every road game this season, hundreds of fans met the team at Louis Armstrong International Airport to greet and congratulate the team, even when they lost.
Well worth the wait
It’s hard to imagine that it’s taken this long for the Saints to get to the promised land. Not with a name that appears to have a blessing from above in a city where the skyline is filled with church steeples along with skyscrapers.
The Saints could not have had any better way to begin things for their franchise. In their inaugural game on Sept. 17, 1967 against the Los Angeles Rams in now-defunct Tulane Stadium, Saints returner John Gilliam returned the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown.
The Saints, though, ultimately lost that game.
Despite such an exciting start, it took 21 years for the Saints to have a winning season and 34 years to win their first playoff game. Forty-three years after the Saints first captivated New Orleans, they’ll be playing in the Super Bowl. Reading that never gets old.
A little lagniappe
It’s been an exciting ride to see my Saints go all the way to the pinnacle. To be honest, I never thought this day would come, but it finally has.
With a nice spread of etouffee, gumbo and beignets, it’ll be quite a memorable day. Win or lose, it’s hard to put into words what it has been like to witness this memorable journey. Hopefully, it’ll end with another celebration for the boys in black and gold and Saints fans everywhere. And that celebration will be one unmatched like any other.
When I asked Uncle Johnny what he thinks it would be like, he referenced a line he heard that put it best.
“In New Orleans, when we celebrate, we don’t flip cars over, we dance on top of them.”
Oh to be on Bourbon Street if that were to happen.
All that’s left is the big game itself and there’s only one thing left to say.
Who Dat! Who Dat! Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints!
