New Orleans Saints: A Football Miracle on Sugar Bowl Drive

In the U.S., especially the southern half, football isn't just a sport- football is an obsession, even a religion to some. Football is enough to make a man cry, buy an entire bar a round of drinks, or throw his remote through the T.V. In the south, football is the road of life; and in Louisiana, home of the New Orleans Saints, that road is a rocky one.

The History of the New Orleans Saints

Founded in 1967 as an expansion team in the South Division of the National Football League (NFL), the Saints went two decades before they had their first winning season. In 1987-1992, the New Orleans Saints made it to the play-offs four times, but lost all four. In 2000, the Saints finally beat the St. Louis Rams for a play-off win.

Then in 2005, Hurricane Katrina nearly destroyed New Orleans, including the Superdome where the New Orleans Saints called home. The Saints were forced to play their 2005 season home games in the LSU Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, or the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The Saints 2005 season ended 3-13.

In 2006 the Saints returned to the New Orleans Superdome. The home opener against the Atlanta Falcons was ESPN's highest rated program to date. The New Orleans Saints made it to the NFC Championship Game where they lost to the Chicago Bears.

The Aints and Their Paper Bag Fans

The New Orleans Saints are far too familiar with playing the underdog. In 1980, the Saints lost their first 14 games. A New Orleans media personality, Bernard Diliberto, got Saints fans to start wearing paper bags on their heads to home games. A lot of these paper bags marked the Saints as the "Aints." The tradition spread quickly and has been seen again when the Aints are having a particularly bad season.

The New Orleans Saints 2009 Season

Despite a rocky beginning, a hurricane that nearly destroyed their home stadium, and being one of the only five teams in the NFL to never go to a Super Bowl, the New Orleans Saints opened their 2009 season with a 45 to 27 win against the Detroit Lions. Then a 48 to 22 win against the Philadelphia Eagles. Then a 27 to 7 win against the Buffalo Bills, and suddenly the city of New Orleans tossed out their paper bags and started dreaming of Super Bowls.

As it stands, the New Orleans Saints are 12 and 0, a record for the franchise. With only four games left in the season, maybe those Super Bowl dreams weren't so lofty for New Orleans this time around.

We may call them the Aints, we may groan in the stadium, and cover our eyes between commercial breaks, but New Orleans will always love the Saints. Football is a way of life in New Orleans just as it is anywhere in the south, and with a 12 and 0 (and counting) season, you may have to expect a few New Orleanian babies born Drew and Reggie.

New Orleans Saints Homepage, "New Orleans Saints Statistics", neworleanssaints.com
Wikipedia, "New Orleans Saints", wikipedia.org