“Who Dat?!” – New Orleans Saints fans
The New Orleans Saints began play in the National Football League in 1967, a hapless expansion franchise, whose first winning season did not come until their 21st campaign.
They have been a laughingstock–the Aints–mocked by the depressingly few fans who showed up to their home games only to ridicule them by wearing paper bags over their heads. A joke, yes, but the point that cheering for such a group of losers elicited shame even in their greatest boosters reflected their ineptitude and their irrelevance.
Irrelevant. That description captured the Saints for most of their first four decades more than anything else. Most famous for having one its kickers own the record for converting the longest field goal in football history, they had cool helmets, some colorful coaches (click, you won’t regret it), and even a few good teams. Many of their fans remained devoted, infusing their local culture into spirited chants of, “Who dat?! Who dat?! Who dat sey dey gonna beat them Saints?!” But to the rest of America, the Saints were an afterthought, rarely featured on “Monday Night Football”, essentially a harmless bunch of overlooked players playing in one of America’s most overlooked sports cities.
Then, in 2005, came Hurricane Katrina. Forced to flee their devastated city and stadium, The Superdome, which housed the desperate and dying during the worst days of the storm’s devastation, the Saints played their home games in Baton Rouge, San Antonio, and once in Giants Stadium in New Jersey. They went 3-13 that season.
Prior to the 2006 season the Saints signed free agent quarterback Drew Brees and hired first-time head coach Sean Payton. In their four years together, Brees and Payton have forged the Saints into an offensive powerhouse, ranking in the top four in the NFL in total yards in each season, and leading the league in yards in three of those seasons, including 2009.
Two weeks ago the “Who Dats” could proudly claim that they were the champion of the NFL’s National Conference. By the end of this evening, they may add that they are the best football team in the world, the champions of Super Bowl XLIV.
Here’s saying they will be: Saints 31 Colts 27.
