Yes,
New Orleans is the franchise that has lost more games than you can count
to place kicks that went wide right or wide left. But on this historic
night, the Saints exorcized their football demons by beating the Minnesota
Vikings 31-28 in overtime.
Nearly
five years ago, the Superdome was a symbol of hurt, destruction, pain,
and loss. On January 24th, it became a place of rejoicing, jubilation,
and victory as the Saints’ coach and players hoisted the NFC Championship
Trophy.
Though
the Crescent City has seen decades of parades and festivals, this celebration
stands alone. Thousands took to the streets and filled the French Quarter
to proudly proclaim the unity in Who Dat Nation. Gone are the days of
paper bag hats and 1-15 seasons. A new era has been ushered in and these
Saints are marching on to the Super Bowl!
Bill
Barrows of The Times, Picayune was in the midst of the hoopla after
the game and caught this fans reaction. “The suffering in this
city. The bags over our heads. The rebuilding. This all makes it worthwhile,”
said Bobby Grosz, still in shock on his bar stool at an Irish Pub in
Mid-City.
According
to ESPN, the official Public Address Announcer, Jerry Romig, who has
been there for years, proudly said to the raucous crowd in the Superdome
just minutes after the winning field goal, “Ain’t this beautiful?
The Saints are going to the Super Bowl!”
The
irony is that the Saints used to be known as the Aints.
Do
you think your franchise has had it rough? Think about this...the New
Orleans Saints, born on All-Saints Day in 1966, endured 21-years of
shame before they could celebrate their first winning season, 35-years
to win their first playoff game, and 42-years to have a chance to play
for a world championship. In the previous 42-years, the Saints and their
fans celebrated a grand total of two playoff victories.
Bill
Barrow also relates this fan’s reaction, “I’m a grown
man, but I’m gonna cry tonight,” said Troy Rosamond of Jefferson.
“I had to be here for the celebration,” he said, explaining
that he was another one of the original Who Dat’s, since ’67.
Several
players said they wanted to go out on the town Sunday night and join
in the raucous celebration, but they were so exhausted that they decided
to just stay in and watch the celebration on the local news.
However,
before we crown the Saints the kings of the football world, they still
have to go to Miami to play one more game against Peyton Manning and
the Indianapolis Colts on February 7.
The
Saints, being the underdog for the Super Bowl, will need to be much
better defensively to stop Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning,
who is also a New Orleans native. The Colts’ high powered offense
put up 30-points against the Jets’ top-ranked defense.
Peyton
Manning is the NFL’s reining most valuable player. He has proved,
over and over again, that he is a master at picking apart defenses by
spreading the ball around with short passes. In two games this postseason,
Manning has thrown for 623-yards and 5-touchdowns with just one interception.
The
Saints, however, are giving up an average of 284-passing-yards per game
in the postseason, third worst out of 12 teams.
The
top seeds from each conference will meet in the championship game for
the first time in 17 years. It’s only happened eight times since
1975, the last in 1993 when the Dallas Cowboys beat the Buffalo Bills
in Atlanta. The Colts go into the game as a 4-point favorite, but if
you’re a Saints fan the only response to that is “Who Dat?!?
Who Dat?!? Who Dat say dey ’gone beat dem Saints!?!”
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