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5 reasons to appreciate the New Orleans Saints, the Panthers’ Week 3 opponent

By Johnny Wakefield
Generated by IJG JPEG Library
Generated by IJG JPEG Library

Two wins. Six points allowed. The Panthers have started the 2017 NFL season tied atop the NFC South heap with the Atlanta Falcons, and we get another game at home this Sunday.

Praise Julius.

That said, each week of the 2017 season, CharlotteFive was going to take a quick look at five reasons you should hate the Panthers’ upcoming opponent. Instead, taking some inspiration from the Supportive Guy, we’ve decided to change that around this week for the lowly 0–2 Saints.

We’re going to give you five reasons to appreciate them. Yes, we’ll still leave the legitimate previews of Sunday’s game to the pros at the Observer.

As one commenter said after Week 1, there’s enough hate in the world already. Let’s look at why the Saints fans deserve some love… before the Panthers crush them on Sunday.

(Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. in Charlotte, and the game will be broadcast on FOX.)

(1) They suffered for a long, long time

The Saints went 21 seasons without a winning record. Seriously, 21 seasons.

Founded Nov. 1, 1966, the Saints had to wait until 1987 to move above the .500 mark. Their next 20 years weren’t the greatest either: the fanbase invented the “baghead” in the late 1970s, so ashamed of their team (yet committed to it) they didn’t want to show their faces at games.

And they didn’t win a Super Bowl until season number 43. If you became a Saints fan the day you graduated college, that’s like waiting until you’re retired and eligible to receive Medicare for the team to actually win anything. How can you not have sympathy for that?

Since that 2010 championship, they’ve regressed back to their traditional mediocrity, going 7–9 the last three seasons in a row. This year doesn’t look like it will be much better. Sympathy.

(2) Insert required/valid Hurricane Katrina reference here

The most obvious and most popular reason for appreciating the New Orleans Saints is what they did for their city after Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana in 2005. As I’ve mentioned before here at CharlotteFive, a professional sports franchise can give a city something to rally around, and that’s exactly what happened with the Saints.

They could have left after Katrina destroyed much of New Orleans, and it looked for awhile like they would. Instead, they stayed and went to the Super Bowl the next season, becoming even more of a civic treasure than they were before the storm.

Amy K. Nelson of Sports Illustrated’s MMQB put together a long-form video detailing the Saints’ role in the recovery, and it’s tear-inducing. If you’ve got a few minutes, you should watch it.

(3) Steve Gleason

Ready for more? Steve Gleason, a safety for the Saints from 2000–2007, has one of the most heart-warming stories in the NFL, if not all of professional sports.

He blocked a punt against the Atlanta Falcons in 2006 in the first home game after Katrina, a game the Saints dominated 23–3. That play has been immortalized with a statue outside the Superdome. A news report said the play “etched Steve Gleason into Saints lore and became symbolic of New Orleans’ resilience in the face of disaster.”

After his retirement from the game, Gleason was diagnosed with ALS, Lou Gehrig’s Disease. He is using that diagnosis to inspire millions.

Seriously. So good. If you’d like to learn more about Team Gleason, visit his organization’s website here.

(4) New Orleans is kind of a great city

I know this is hard to admit, especially if you have Hornets-based animosity for New Orleans, but it’s kind of a great place (especially outside the tourist traps). The culture, the music, the food, the love that residents have for their city… if you haven’t visited, it’s less than two hours away by flight.

Here’s a Lonely Planet primer for “beginners.”

Oh, and beignets. Beignets y’all. Can’t hate any city built around beignets.

(5) “Who Dat” makes no sense

Alright, we’ll end on a less-positive note, just because the Panthers do have to compete against New Orleans on Sunday.

“Who Dat” is the rallying cry for Who Dat Nation, the Saints’ fanbase, and it’s as obnoxious a rallying cry as they come. Watch one video, or just know one person that yells “Who Dat” incessantly, and you’ll probably understand.

Though maybe they’re not all bad…

It’s actually a little less annoying too once you realize “Who Dat” started in 1983 after this lovely little video…

But still. Who dat say dey going to beat dem Saints? Dat Cam and Luke and the Carolina Panthers on Sunday afternoon. Keep Pounding.

Photo: David T. Foster III/Charlotte Observer

This story was originally published September 22, 2017 at 1:00 AM with the headline "5 reasons to appreciate the New Orleans Saints, the Panthers’ Week 3 opponent."

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