New Orleans Saints

 

The New Orleans Saints have been around since 1967 when they were first established as a NFL team. Once the NFL – AFL merger occurred, the Saints played in the NFC West from 1970 until 2001, where they changed over to the NFC South where they are currently playing. The Saints are headquartered in Metairie, Louisiana, but they play their home games in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome located in New Orleans, Louisiana. The team colors for the Saints uniforms are Black, Old Gold, and White; they use the same colors in different combination for each of the three uniforms. The team has two mascots, Gumbo the Dog and Sir Saint. Gumbo is a large “Saint” Bernard dressed with the Saints uniform, while Sir Saint is simply a large version of a Saints player; both are excellent for getting the crowd nice and rowdy.

 

Saints Brief Team History

The New Orleans Saints were founded by John Mecom, Jr. and David Dixon, along with the city of New Orleans in 1967. They started their professional football career being part of the NFL and playing in the Tulane Stadium. For their first twenty years as a NFL franchise, the Saints did not stand out too much; only getting a .500 for two seasons. It wasn’t until 1987 where they finally got a winning season record and with that started their climb towards becoming a great and competitive football team. During that time, Jim Mora was the head coach for the Saints and was able to turn the mediocre team into a playoff contender. He continued to coach until the middle of the 1996 season, where he decided to step down as head coach during a losing season of 3 – 13.

Mike Ditka, former head coach for the Chicago Bears became the head coach for a short while, but was unable to get the Saints to perform as well as the Bears did when he was head coach. From 2000 until 2005 Jim Haslett became head coach, where the team only made it to the 2000 playoffs; the Saints never did make it to another playoff under Haslett. It was then that the Saints hired Sean Payton as head coach, and that same season they acquired quarterback Drew Brees; who would change the Saints losing records. From 2006 until 2011, the Saints have managed to make it to 4 playoffs, and won the NFC championship in 2009, the same year they won their only Super Bowl championship so far. The Saints have struggled to get to where they are at, and they have been doing pretty well.

 

Notable Saints Figures

There may not have been too many successful years for the Saints in the past, but the people that stuck with the team and worked hard to make it successful, will always be remembered.

 

Past Saints Figures

 

Jim Mora was the Saints head coach from 1986 until 1996. Before he arrived, the team was not doing so well, as they were unable to get to the playoffs, let along get a winning season record. The same year he started, he put the Saints on everyone’s radar by getting them to their first playoff appearance and winning season. They continued to perform well and by 1991, Mora took the team to another playoff, and got their first Division title. The Saints played in 4 playoffs while Mora was head coach.

 

Deuce McAllister played with the Saints from 2001 – 2008, and during his time with the Saints he managed to set several different records. He was a great running back, as he still holds the record for most career rushing attempts (1,298), rushing yards (6,096), and total touchdowns (55).

 

Morten Andersen started his career as a kicker when the Saints drafted him in 1982, and he played with the Saints until 1994. During his time with the team, he was able make 302 field goals, along with 412 extra points, 1,318 points, and played in 196 games during his career with the Saints. He was a very accurate and excellent kicker, which helped the Saints greatly with their struggling seasons.

 

Present Saints Figures

 

Drew Brees has become a synonym for the Saints, as he managed to take a failing team and turn it into a heavy playoff contender and Super Bowl champions. During his impressive career with the Saints, he has been able to get over 4,000 passing yards every season, proving that he is a great quarterback that has the ability to find a player and throw a complete pass.

 

There are four Saints players that do a great job at receiving passes and scoring. There are WR Marques Colston, WR Lance Moore, RB Darren Sproles, and TE Jimmy Graham. The funny thing about Darren Sproles is that he plays as a running back, but is doing a much better job at receiving than rushing. All of these players excel at giving Brees an opening for him to throw the ball to any one of them. With so many options, it is no wonder the Saints does very well at the passing game.

 

Present Team Personnel

The New Orleans Saints is currently owned by Tom Benson and his granddaughter Rita Benson LeBlanc. This is a great duo to have as owners, as Tom Benson brings in the experience and Rita Benson is simply a great businesswoman and has worked with the Saints for years and understands everything that has to do with the franchise. Sadly, due to certain investigations, Sean Payton has been suspended from his duties as head coach, but Joe Vitt has taken over as interim coach for the time being. Joe Vitt is a well-rounded coach, withplenty of experience dealing with professional football teams.