There is but one Louisiana team in the National Football League, and hat is the New Orleans Saints. Playing in the NFC’s South Division, the Saints have demonstrated throughout their history that patience is not only a virtue – it is sometimes all you have. First founded in 1966, and joining the League in that year’s expansion, the Saints’ rise to prominence has been all but non-existent throughout most of their history. For a full decade, the team never managed to achieve a .500 season. Even after finally accomplishing that feat, it would be yet another ten years before they could compile their first winning season. It was more than another ten years after that before they managed a win in the postseason! To be a Saints fan has been to accept that life in the NFL is a rollercoaster that often has more extreme downward inclines than climbs. Patience has been about all the fans have had for most of the Saints’ history.

The Shame of it All

Of course, the team is nowhere near as sad these days as it was in the sorrow-filled NFL months during the 1980 campaign. With a team that began the season with a 0-14 record, fans all but gave up on the franchise. Oh, they continued to show up for each game, but were so overcome with shame at their team’s performance on the field that they took to wearing paper bags over their faces. Thought this expression might have easily faded into NFL history, it was instead embraced by other fans in the League – and throughout sports – whose teams suffer through prolonged periods of mediocrity.

Hurricanes and a Rise Toward Greatness

You have to hand it to the Saints – they always seem to find something worse that can happen to them. After nearly four decades of poor play, the city of New Orleans was struck by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The damage was so extensive that the team could not even play in their own dome for the rest of the seasons, leaving them out on the road for the entire season. The end result was a season with only 3 wins, and the fervent desire on the part of fans and players alike that the next year would at last bring some positive developments. It did. In fact, the 2006 campaign resulted in the Saints not only winning the South division, but going on to face the Bears in the NFC Championship. And even though the Saintly ones lost that game, most fans felt like destiny was within their grasp.

Getting to the Big One

As it turned out, the Saints would have to reverse fortunes once again before they could leap forward. They went from an outstanding 2006 season – one game from the Super Bowl – to a couple of pathetic performances in 2007 and 2008. The fans’ hopes were just about dashed again when the Saints suddenly began the 2009 campaign by rattling off thirteen victories in a row. Their 13-3 record sent them to the playoffs, the NFC Championship, and then on to the Super Bowl.

In that Forty-Fourth Super Bowl, the Colts were the prohibitive favorites, as Peyton Manning once again seemed flawless throughout the year. Once again defying the odds, the Saints dismantled Peyton’s team and won their first ever Super Bowl. In so doing, they proved that even if patience is all you sometimes have, it is still enough to eventually receive your just reward.

Author Bio: Ivan Jamison is a big sports fan. You can check out his New Orleans Saints Watch or his Chicago Cubs Watch or his Detroit Tigers Watch

Category: Sports
Keywords: New Orleans Saints