The 2009 NFC Championship Is Still The Highest Rated Game Ever (Excluding Super Bowls)

The ratings for that Saints run are so interesting to me. We all know why we were watching but it seems like the entire country was tuning in to see if the Loveable Losers could go all the way. I think people were rooting for us the way we root for the Lions and Bengals. America loves Cinderella stories and the Saints were the greatest sad sack to world champions story in maybe all of sports.

But then the bounty deal happened and a lot of people lost that loving feeling. We became the villains and people think that we inexplicably won it all by cheating and hurting players. Smh. I don't care what anyone thinks. They can't take 2009 away.
I think that sorta discredits that run.
You can even look back. They were still a major draw post Bountygate.