How Many Saints Deserve Super Bowl Rings?

Things are really starting to get to me as we approach Super Bowl XLIV in Miami. My New Orleans Saints are heading to the franchise's first Super Bowl ever and there are so many stories at hand. Some of them though are honestly getting on my nerves and it's taking the focus off of this fantastic game.

Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts are looking to capture another title as Drew Brees and company traveled a long road to their first big dance. So many things could be the focus of this week, but it really needs to be the game itself. We could even look at the hometown boy Manning going up against his childhood favorite team. Not a bad little side story, but we don't need much more considering...well, this is the Super Bowl.

Whether or not this game is being played for the victims of Hurricane Katrina back in 2005 is a totally different story in itself. I touched on that a little bit in an article written in response to Seattle radio personality Dori Monson kind of demeaning everything that happened throughout that horrible disaster. It's nice to see this game and team really mean something to the entire city as a whole, but this isn't a season that has been so tremendous due to the lives and belongings lost four and a half years ago.

Yes, it's a great symbol of pride. Yes, it's a great reason to band together. Yes, it's a wonderful and compelling story that touches the hearts and souls of millions of people. Hell, it's virtually made the Saints more of "America's Team" then the Dallas Cowboys even are. But I'm not going to focus on that because people are going to believe whatever they want to believe so who am I to take away their thoughts and dreams?

No, my issue comes from all of those people moaning and complaining about the Saints from the past. First of all let's hypothetically say that the Saints do win the Super Bowl and end up getting their rings. Everyone on the team (players and staff) should get a ring to start with and that's just a foregone conclusion. I believe Deuce McAllister and John Carney should get rings if the Saints win the big game, but they are also still members of this team in some capacity or another.

Now to all those moaning and complaining that others from the Saints' past should get rings? Get over it and get over yourself. Let's look at a few big names in the history of the franchise and see if they deserve to get a Super Bowl ring or not.

Archie Manning: A legend and one of the most synonymous names with the New Orleans Saints' franchise is Archie Manning. Quite honestly, he was perhaps the first true big star the team ever had. He quarterbacked the black and gold for ten full seasons without ever having a winning record in any of them. After he left the Saints and played for the Houston Oilers and Minnesota Vikings to finish his career; he didn't have a winning record with those teams either. Sure he may not have been well protected or had a good supporting cast, but he still gave it his all. Still...his last game with the Saints was in 1981 and he is not the best quarterback in Saint's history. Why does he deserve a ring?

Willie Roaf: Considered one of the greatest linemen in the history of the NFL, not just the Saints. Willie Roaf played for the Saints for nine years and got voted to the Pro Bowl in seven of those seasons. After being traded to the Kansas City Chiefs, he made the Pro Bowl in each of the four years he played there to end his career. Roaf will go down as one of the most decorated and awarded Saints ever no matter how many years go by and rightfully so. He deserves every single award he's ever received, but he last played a game for the black and gold back in 2001. Why does he deserve a ring?

Aaron Brooks: A lot of you are probably laughing to yourself as you see this name again for the first time since late 2005. Sure there were a great number of abysmal seasons and statostics from the Saints when Aaron Brooks was the leader of the offense, but we can't forget one teeny tiny incident that he was involved in. It happens to be one of the greatest moments in Saints' history and took the team off of an ugly list that at the time, only included one team name...Aaron Brooks was the quarterback of the team when they got their first playoff victory in franchise history. Why does he deserve a ring?

Joe Horn: One of the most explosive and loved players to ever wear the fleur-de-lis; Joe Horn really made a name for himself and that is for more then just pulling out a cell phone after scoring a touchdown. Horn was extremely productive no matter who was at quarterback. He was a huge pillar in the community and to the city. Horn was loved by anyone and everyonoe in the city. But then his production began to drop as his injuries started to mount. Younger players stepped in and were proving him expendable. Refusing to take a pay cut even though his age was also rising, Horn was cut and signed with Atlanta where his numbers were even worse in the one season he played there. Why does he deserve a ring?

So there you have it. Four of the biggest names in Saints' history and people can wonder up and down if any of them deserve a Super Bowl ring should the black and gold bring home the Lombardi Trophy. When looking at the four of them, most may disagree with me but I'd say that the two most deserving out of the four listed above are Roaf and Brooks. Call me crazy but that's exactly how I feel. None of them should get one actually yet Brooks and Roaf deserve one above Horn and Manning.

Aaron Brooks brought home the first ever playoff victory in franchise history while Willie Roaf is honestly one of the best players in the history of the team. Manning is well known but I don't consider him an integral part of anything really. Yes he was good and important and a great player on a bad team, but ok ok we get it. Drop it already. Joe Horn was an awesome receiver but when his time came to sit down and pass the buck, he decided to whine and cry like a baby. Then what does he do? He goes to the biggest rival the organization has period...the Atlanta Falcons.

Yes, I know that other Saints' players went to the Falcons at times too but the way Horn ended his career in New Orleans still rubs me the wrong way.

If you want to look at other players that have meant more to the organization and would deserve a ring simply on sentimentality, then I'd give one to:

~ Bobby Hebert
~ Craig "Ironhead" Heyward
~ Rickey Jackson
~ Dalton Hilliard
~ Fred McAfee
~ Tom Dempsey
~ Morten Andersen
~ Eric Martin

Any of these former Saints are players that I feel would deserve a Super Bowl ring above all those mentioned above, but they shouldn't get one either in all honesty. Be affiliated with the team in a professional and legitimate manner and you'll get one. That's why I'm happy that Deuce and Carney actually have positions with the team and could get one if the Saints were to win the Super Bowl.

If you ask me...there is one person who has never played professional sports ever that should get a Super Bowl ring if the Saints are ever to win the big one. He has been affiliated with the team for almost twenty-five years now watching the good times and the bad times. We've all lsitened to him as he's called some of the greatest plays we didn't get to see as they happened. We also tuned into him as he called the plays we couldn't believe happened as we hung our heads and cried. This man has given his life and soul to this franchise and he deserves the recognition of the fans, the team, and the league itself.

That man is Jim Henderson.

And if you need more reason, then here are two quotes for you:~ "HAKIM DROPS THE BALL! HAKIM DROPS THE BALL! Brian Milne might've fallen on it at the ten yard line! It's the New Orleans Saints' football! Brian Milne, the most unlikely hero of them all, falls on the fumble, the muff by Hakim! There is a God after all!"

~ "It's good! It's good! It's goo-oo-ood! Ha ha ha! Pigs have flown. Hell has frozen over. The Saints are headed to the Super Bowl."