TABLE OF CONTENTS From Shopping Bags to the Super Bowl 9 Big Easy Beginnings 17 The Aints Era 24 Continuing Struggles 35 Brees Blows into the Big Easy 39 GRIDIRON GREATS Frustrated Fans 11 The Dome Patrol 14 Going Bowling 19 Flower Power 26 His Honor Mayor Brees 40 A Great Draft 44 Team Stats 47 Websites 47 Index 48
new york jets quarterback Drew Brees FROM SHOPPING BAGS TO THE SUPER BOWL In the early 1980s the New Orleans Saints was one of the worst teams in the National Football League NFL Ashamed fans wore paper bags over their heads because what they were seeing was so bad They called the team the Aints But in 2009 the Saints reached the heights of the NFL They were playing the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV There was no doubt that the Saints belonged in the big game They had won the first 13 games of the regular season Fans hoped for a perfect season But the team decided to rest some of its starting players to keep them fresh for the playoffs It lost the final three games of the season But the Saints rebounded to crush the Arizona Cardinals in the first round of 9
