Canal Street Chronicles
It all started back on Nov. 1, 1966, when the NFL awarded the city of New Orleans a football franchise. From that day on, the Saints and the community have been completely intertwined. Whether it be when the team takes the field on game days or at one of the many community events they host throughout the year, fans show up in support of the Black & Gold.
The Saints’ inaugural season kicked off on Sept. 17, 1967, at Tulane Stadium in front of 80,000 excited fans. For eight years, Tulane would host Saints games until the opening of the Superdome in August 1975. The first game in their newly built stadium, a 21-0 loss against the Cincinnati Bengals, would set the tone for the Saints’ foreseeable future, as it wouldn’t be until 12 years later, in 1987, when the Saints produced their first winning season. There wasn’t much to love about the team back then, but fans still did through the heartbreak and anger because it was their team, their New Orleans Saints.
Even after Hurricane Katrina completely devastated New Orleans in 2005 and the air of so much uncertainty was hovering over them, the community came together to show their unwavering support and gave the Saints their first sold-out season in 40 years. Meanwhile, the Saints helped to rebuild schools and playgrounds, giving a broken community hope that if they still believed in them, others would too.
On Sept. 25, 2006, the Saints would play their first home game back in the Superdome, against the Atlanta Falcons. The game appropriately nicknamed “Domecoming,” was a message to the world that New Orleans and the Saints were officially back. That night, the Saints would defeat the Falcons 23-3. They would go on to finish the season 10-6 and advance all the way to the NFC Championship Game for the first time in franchise history. Unfortunately, the Saints lost that game in Chicago, but they didn’t lose hope, for a team now led by the duo of Sean Payton and Drew Brees had bigger plans for the future.
Just three years later, the Saints would return to the NFC Championship Game, this time playing at home and against the Minnesota Vikings. A field goal in overtime would send the Saints to Super Bowl 44 and the entire city into a frenzy. As Jim Henderson, longtime radio announcer for WWL, iconically said, “Pigs have flown. Hell has frozen over. The Saints are on their way to the Superbowl!”
Yes, the Saints were on their way to the Super Bowl, and so were their fans. In fact, many of them didn’t have tickets to the big game but still traveled to Miami just to be a part of the atmosphere, taking over bars and restaurants in South Florida. At the time, Super Bowl XLIV became the most watched program in U.S. television history, surpassing the 1983 series finale of “M-A-S-H.”
On Feb. 8, 2010, when the team arrived back home from Miami after...
