Ashton Daigle

Chapter 1 - The Long Journey

They say the measure of man, or woman for that matter, is how one prevails in the face of adversity. If nothing else, New Orleans Saints fans have an intimate understanding of adversity.

Born on All Saints Day in 1966, the sixteenth franchise in the National Football League, the Saints began its first home game at Tulane Stadium with a bang when running back John Gilliam opened the game by returning the kickoff for a 94-yard touchdown run. As fate would have it, though, the game ended in a 27- 13 defeat to the Los Angeles Rams; which would eerily set the tone for the next several decades.

From Tom Dempsey’s 63-yard field goal in 1970 which gave the Saints a 19-17 win over the Detroit Lions, a record which still stands today as the longest field goal in the league; to Garrett Hartley’s 40-yard kick in overtime, which clenched the team’s first NFC Championship title, and earned them their first trip to the Super Bowl; it’s been a long, hard, roller-coaster of a ride for fans.

We’ve been 40 plus years in the making, and over that span of time there have been many, many highs and lows, with perhaps more valleys than peaks.

We remember our champions, both old and new: Elam and Dempsey; Billy Kilmer; Danny Abramowicz; Derland Moore; Thunder and Lightning also known as Chuck Muncie and Tony Galbreath; Archie Manning; Stan Brock; Wes Chandler; Bobby Hebert; Morten Andersen. And now, Drew Brees; Jeremy Shockey; Mike Bell; Jonathan Vilma; Will Smith; Mike Bell; Devery Henderson; Reggie Bush; Marques Colston; Pierre Thomas just to name a few.

And coaches, we’ve had more than a few; some good; some not so good; come clearly past their prime; Hank Stram, Jim Hazlett, Bum Phillips; Jim Mora; Mike Ditka; and now Sean Payton.

Indeed, we’ve truly known the agonies of defeat; in all their various and sundry shapes and sizes; from one-point squeakers to 30-point blowouts. We remember those defeats; Russell Erxleben’s blocked point against the Atlanta Falcons; our elimination from the first wildcard playoff spot we ever clenched in 1987- Irony of ironies, it was the Minnesota Vikings that knocked us out during our first trip. It felt like poetic justice; as if the circle was somehow complete; when we put Favre on the ground and rose victorious to the Super Bowl march.

We remember our defeat against Chicago during our first trip to the NFC Championship game just a few short years ago; right on the heels one of the greatest man and nature made disasters our great city has ever known – Hurricane Katrina. The loss was bittersweet; but perhaps just a little more than usual to have come so close, only to have it snatched away.

We remember the “Aint’s” and times when it was practically impossible to even give away a ticket to a game in the Dome. We remember donning brown paper bags over our heads; at the loving goading of the late, great but often ostentatious sportscaster Buddy Diliberto. We remember going for years at a stretch with no appearances on Monday Night Football; as we were a joke to the sports-casting world and national NFL commentators; a stigma we fight still to this day; even though we’ve made it to the Super Bowl.

But we’ve never given up. We’ve always persevered. We’ve never given up on our team. We’ve never given up on the dream. We’ve prayed to all the saints (not just the ones at the line of scrimmage); and we’ve hoped against hope even in our darkest moments. We’ve clapped each other on the backs uttering words of encouragement and comfort, “We’ll have better luck next season.”

But the time has come. This is the next season. And now, miracle of all miracles, we finally have an answer to the decades-old question.

Who Dat?

We Dat.

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