Dome Patrol voted best linebacker corps ever (1 Viewer)

[zorro37]

That wasn't my era, although I love watching any game film I can from that time.
I really hope that in 10 years we will be discussing Morgan, Vilma, Fujita, and another few draft picks in this way.
Seeing as I wasn't a Saints fan during those times, in that video what is the flaming thing falling from the roof of the dome? The announcer says that in New Orleans the sky was always falling and then you hear the commentator of the game clip say This is the strangest thing I've ever seen in a football game.

 

[jimrip]

Seeing as I wasn't a Saints fan during those times, in that video what is the flaming thing falling from the roof of the dome? The announcer says that in New Orleans the sky was always falling and then you hear the commentator of the game clip say This is the strangest thing I've ever seen in a football game.

That was Archie on the color commentary. The fire was caused by a fireworks display. Underneath the gondola (is that even there anymore?) were several burlap sacks which contained the excess cable from the gondola control motors. One of the rockets from the fireworks display exploded under the gondola and ignited the burlap sack. Because the wire had plastic insulation, the whole mass just burned slowly, dripping fire droplets onto the field. The game was halted while a dome worker descended from the roof onto the gondola. Right about that time, the whole mess burned itself free from the gondola and fell to the turf, burning a big hole in the turf. A couple of Saints assistants ran out there with cups of gatorade, followed by another two with the whole jug. A fireman followed up with a fire extinguisher. Like Archie said, that was the dangest thing I ever saw at a Saints game.

 

[jimrip]

Saw this on the Saints Web site. Great video. Let's hope Vilma, Morgan and Fujita can do a tenth of what these men did. Great memories.

http://www.neworleanssaints.com/Multimedia/Videos.aspx

Awesome video! I didn't realize at the time that the Saints didn't have a losing season while they were together. And they did that with no offense, a pedestrian D-line and possibly the 4 worst DB's ever assembled on a team (apologies to the 2007 Saints).

 

[RoadTrippin']

Hah, I remember watching that episode of the Top Ten. As the countdown proceeded, I kept thinking, "where the Hell is the Dome Patrol?" I was really ****** thinking that they were going to be overlooked altogether -- and then they finally showed up at the #1 spot.

 

['79 Saints]

That was Archie on the color commentary. The fire was caused by a fireworks display. Underneath the gondola (is that even there anymore?) were several burlap sacks which contained the excess cable from the gondola control motors. One of the rockets from the fireworks display exploded under the gondola and ignited the burlap sack. Because the wire had plastic insulation, the whole mass just burned slowly, dripping fire droplets onto the field. The game was halted while a dome worker descended from the roof onto the gondola. Right about that time, the whole mess burned itself free from the gondola and fell to the turf, burning a big hole in the turf. A couple of Saints assistants ran out there with cups of gatorade, followed by another two with the whole jug. A fireman followed up with a fire extinguisher. Like Archie said, that was the dangest thing I ever saw at a Saints game.

That was in 1991 against the 49ers. The gondola is long gone, but what they had was a cage beneath the old video screens that used to hang from the center of the dome's roof.

John Madden likes to joke about how he bet Raiders punter Ray Guy couldn't hit those screens, and sure enough he did.

The screens were there originally so every fan would have a "great view" of the game from wherever they were sitting. However, because of technology limitations, the screens were generally dark and grainy. I do remember the deafing sounds of the sizzling steaks from the Ruth's Chris steakhouse commericals, though.

You know with Jerry Jones stringing up that huge screen in the roof of the new Cowboys stadium, I wonder if the Superdome management has considered bringing a similar type of screen for the Saints?

 

[DavidM]

...a pedestrian D-line and possibly the 4 worst DB's ever assembled on a team (apologies to the 2007 Saints).

I respectfully disagree. I think the D-line was a little better than advertised. I can remember occasions when opinion was that guys like Frank Warren and Wayne Martin were snubbed for the Pro Bowl.

Gene Atkins, Brett Maxie, and Antonio Gibson gave varying degrees of solid play at Safety. Atkins, particularly, I always thought was a pretty under-rated player.

Corners were more pedestrian but Waymer and Cook don't deserve "worst of" recognition, IMHO. And guys like Reggie Sutton and Robert Massey gave the team one or two solid years respectively. If anything, there wasn't much stability in the secondary. Certainly the weakest area of those great defenses that were so stout up front, but there were some decent players that suited up back there.

 

[bergeaux]

Ya this link didnt work for e either.

heres some other Dome Patrol vids though:
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I almost teared up watching those videos. And I have seen them a 100 times. Man I hope Vilma Fujita and either Morgan or someone we draft this year can become a dominating LB corp like that again...

With our offense, this team would be unstoppable.

 

['79 Saints]

My favorite comments came from Randy Cross/Roger Craig, re: Vaughn Johnson

Randy: "It took about three plays, before you learned who #53 was."

Craig: "All I know is that I didn't want him to hit me again..."

One of these days I'm going to have to learn how to download all my '91 Saints highlights I taped off of ESPN's Primetime for you guys (and girls) to enjoy...

The shot of Vaughn Johnson challenging George Seifert in SF to go for it on 4th and goal is priceless... they did, and Niners didn't make it.

 

[DavidM]

The shot of Vaughn Johnson challenging George Seifert in SF to go for it on 4th and goal is priceless... they did, and Niners didn't make it.

I remember that.

What is fuzzy, or perhaps just a fabrication, is a memory of the Saints having some string of stops on 4th down conversions. Does that jog any recollection for you or is somebody about to quash a fond memory I have?

 

[kenny59715]

That was Archie on the color commentary. The fire was caused by a fireworks display. Underneath the gondola (is that even there anymore?) were several burlap sacks which contained the excess cable from the gondola control motors. One of the rockets from the fireworks display exploded under the gondola and ignited the burlap sack. Because the wire had plastic insulation, the whole mass just burned slowly, dripping fire droplets onto the field. The game was halted while a dome worker descended from the roof onto the gondola. Right about that time, the whole mess burned itself free from the gondola and fell to the turf, burning a big hole in the turf. A couple of Saints assistants ran out there with cups of gatorade, followed by another two with the whole jug. A fireman followed up with a fire extinguisher. Like Archie said, that was the dangest thing I ever saw at a Saints game.

I was there for that game. I was just a kid but I thought that the guy decending from the top was a complete wacko!!!

 

[saintsfan4210]

Best linebacking corps ever is right.

 

['79 Saints]

I remember that.

What is fuzzy, or perhaps just a fabrication, is a memory of the Saints having some string of stops on 4th down conversions. Does that jog any recollection for you or is somebody about to quash a fond memory I have?

Not really for one season, but I can remember some important goal line stands during that era... in '87 vs. Steelers that secured a winning season, that one against the 49ers (which they ended up losing because of a fumbled spike by Steve Walsh), and a couple of ones against the Rams...

They did have a streak in 1989 or 90 of consecutive games of keeping a rusher under 100 yards and in 1991 they didn't allow an opposing offense to score a touchdown for five and half games (Tampa scored in the 2nd half of their game).

 

[DomePatrol1980]

That was Archie on the color commentary. The fire was caused by a fireworks display. Underneath the gondola (is that even there anymore?) were several burlap sacks which contained the excess cable from the gondola control motors. One of the rockets from the fireworks display exploded under the gondola and ignited the burlap sack. Because the wire had plastic insulation, the whole mass just burned slowly, dripping fire droplets onto the field. The game was halted while a dome worker descended from the roof onto the gondola. Right about that time, the whole mess burned itself free from the gondola and fell to the turf, burning a big hole in the turf. A couple of Saints assistants ran out there with cups of gatorade, followed by another two with the whole jug. A fireman followed up with a fire extinguisher. Like Archie said, that was the dangest thing I ever saw at a Saints game.

Oh yeah, I remember that. I was 11 and I was at the game with my grandparents. If I'm not mistaken, didn't John Madden make the guy who climbed up in the gondola to try and put out the fire an honorary member of the all-Madden team?

 

[RgnKjnDroid]

Works fine with firefox for me ... under Linux, no less.

Painfully slow to load though - as is everything on the official site.

me too re: FF on Linux.

"If they had an offense they would have won two or three Superbowls in the Eighties" :ugh:

Awesome video as are all Dome Patrol vids. Thx for posting

 

[FatiusJeebs]

One of the main reasons why I became a fan in '89. Those 4 RULED!!!!!!