How That Payton/Brees Run Will Still Impact The Franchise (1 Viewer)

[Saint Jack]

I think it’s getting lost on people just how important the Payton/Brees run will be to the Saints going forward.
During Payton’s introductory press conference, one of the main draws of going to the Broncos was the history and tradition of the franchise.
For all the good Mora and Benson did in the late 80s and early 90s; there was none of that for the Saints. At least on a national level.
There is that now. The Saints carved their imprint on the League in the past sixteen years.
There wasn’t a coincidence that the Hall started inducting Saints.
At the time of this writing, there are four Saints in. Mills, Jackson. Roaf. Andersen. All inducted during Payton and Brees’ time here.
And there are still a few that are first ballot or have about a greater than 75% chance of getting in.
Brees. Payton. Jordan. Evans.

It’s not just a championship that has changed this perception. But it was this long term success.
The Saints now have this history and tradition.

 

[SweetT]

It works in our favor that all (or many) of the young bucks in the league, and those that will be entering the league, has seen our best Saints era of football. So that’s all they have really seen of us

 

[MarylandWHODAT]

I think it’s getting lost on people just how important the Payton/Brees run will be to the Saints going forward.
During Payton’s introductory press conference, one of the main draws of going to the Broncos was the history and tradition of the franchise.
For all the good Mora and Benson did in the late 80s and early 90s; there was none of that for the Saints. At least on a national level.
There is that now. The Saints carved their imprint on the League in the past sixteen years.
There wasn’t a coincidence that the Hall started inducting Saints.
At the time of this writing, there are four Saints in. Mills, Jackson. Roaf. Andersen. All inducted during Payton and Brees’ time here.
And there are still a few that are first ballot or have about a greater than 75% chance of getting in.
Brees. Payton. Jordan. Evans.

It’s not just a championship that has changed this perception. But it was this long term success.
The Saints now have this history and tradition.

I think we all realize just how important that time of the Saints was just by seeing how everyone on here, myself included, is so downtrodden and miserable on the current Saints regime and outlook. Deep down, we know that the Saints will never see that glory again. I know, I know. Never say never but......

The Saints have had history with Tom Dempsey, Archie Manning (the greatest quarterback that never was), the feared Dome Patrol and Hakim drops the ball but nothing compares to the entire 15 years of the Payton/Brees era.

I'm hoping and praying that the Saints reach that mountain top again in my lifetime. There is nothing like your favorite team winning it all however, what comes with it is higher expectations.

I've said it before and I stand by it: the best thing that ever happened to the New Orleans Saints was winning the Super Bowl. The worst thing that happened to the New Orleans Saints was winning the Super Bowl.

 

[No2DC]

So true, legacy is important. We have to get back to winning, though or we will be a once proud franchise.

 

[Saint Jack]

I think we all realize just how important that time of the Saints was just by seeing how everyone on here, myself included, is so downtrodden and miserable on the current Saints regime and outlook. Deep down, we know that the Saints will never see that glory again. I know, I know. Never say never but......

The Saints have had history with Tom Dempsey, Archie Manning (the greatest quarterback that never was), the feared Dome Patrol and Hakim drops the ball but nothing compares to the entire 15 years of the Payton/Brees era.

I'm hoping and praying that the Saints reach that mountain top again in my lifetime. There is nothing like your favorite team winning it all however, what comes with it is higher expectations.

I've said it before and I stand by it: the best thing that ever happened to the New Orleans Saints was winning the Super Bowl. The worst thing that happened to the New Orleans Saints was winning the Super Bowl.

I don’t know why higher expectations are bad. I’d rather that than the Meacom Years.

 

[Saint Jack]

So true, legacy is important. We have to get back to winning, though or we will be a once proud franchise.

The thing is, when you have a run of that length, it never goes away.
Even if the Saints don’t win it until 2031, it just continues and builds on it.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

I don’t know why higher expectations are bad. I’d rather that than the Meacom Years.

not 'bad' but the Cowboys fanbase shows the danger of high expectations based on past success

and last year's misery is instructive - we all had the hope for a deep playoff run and somehow that hope became an expectation (even though the season we had - esp with injuries - was a much more likely outcome)
luckily Ms Benson is not swayed by every knee jerk of the franchise, but if (unreasonable) high expectations leads to 'throw the bums out' anger by the fanbase, it can be problematic

 

[MarylandWHODAT]

I don’t know why higher expectations are bad. I’d rather that than the Meacom Years.

You are correct that higher expectations are not bad. We all want the best.

In context to what we have with the Saints now is that in the past when the team was bad and REALLY bad, fans expectations were just win a game. Then it was, just win the division. Then it was win a playoff game. Then it was win the Super Bowl. Now, as fans, we will accept nothing less than a Super Bowl.

It's not bad at all. It's added pressure. The bar has been raised. The enemy of good is great. We as fans won't tolerate a "good team". We know what a great team looks like and we want great again.

 

[Westbank4Life]

The thing is, when you have a run of that length, it never goes away.
Even if the Saints don’t win it until 2031, it just continues and builds on it.

Saints just have to make sure they aren't .300 in that gap. Today's society traditional thinking isn't long lasting nor is it valued as much in sports

If they can remain competitve here and there that keeps them relevant but if they bottom for long stretches nobody will remember those years of winning for over a decade stretch outside of saint fans.

the media who votes for Hall guys will shuffle the latest 5 year removed players in the HOF like they are doing now plus the once mediocre teams that might be hot like the saints once were...ex. lets say the Jags go a decade winning ....you'll start to see tons of old Jags all of a sudden get nominated. Fred Taylor, Jimmy Smith ..etc

Saints need to remain competitive with a few slip ups but never go back to the dumps.

 

[Saint Jack]

Saints just have to make sure they aren't .300 in that gap. Today's society traditional thinking isn't long lasting nor is it valued as much in sports

If they can remain competitve here and there that keeps them relevant but if they bottom for long stretches nobody will remember those years of winning for over a decade stretch outside of saint fans.

the media who votes for Hall guys will shuffle the latest 5 year removed players in the HOF like they are doing now plus the once mediocre teams that might be hot like the saints once were...ex. lets say the Jags go a decade winning ....you'll start to see tons of old Jags all of a sudden get nominated. Fred Taylor, Jimmy Smith ..etc

Saints need to remain competitive with a few slip ups but never go back to the dumps.

If it means anything, during the Bensons tenure, the franchise has only dropped below 7 games 5 times and three of those was during the Ditka Years.

 

[saint_drago]

This is a good point. The perception of the franchise is night and day. Before Brees/SP the Saints were the lovable losers that had a Kicker who kicked a ball really far one time, a QB who people felt sorry for because he could've been great, and the best LB corps in the history of the game. They were a team that other fanbases looked at and said, "Well at least we aren't the Saints".

There's really not a modern NFL franchise to compare the Aints to. The Lions at least had some championships before the merger and they have the Thanksgiving thing going for them. The Browns also had a lot of success before the Super Bowl era. The other teams that have never won a Super Bowl have all won playoff games or gone to a Super Bowl.

The franchise has been forever changed when we're talking macro but a lot of fans only focus on the micro. Especially Saints fans who grew up during the golden era and only know the Saints as a Super Bowl contender or at worst a dangerous team capable of beating any team in the league even in a 7-9 year. Younger fans have no idea what it was like to head into a season with absolutely zero hope. It's going to be an adjustment for them.

 

[Saint Jack]

Saints just have to make sure they aren't .300 in that gap. Today's society traditional thinking isn't long lasting nor is it valued as much in sports

If they can remain competitve here and there that keeps them relevant but if they bottom for long stretches nobody will remember those years of winning for over a decade stretch outside of saint fans.

the media who votes for Hall guys will shuffle the latest 5 year removed players in the HOF like they are doing now plus the once mediocre teams that might be hot like the saints once were...ex. lets say the Jags go a decade winning ....you'll start to see tons of old Jags all of a sudden get nominated. Fred Taylor, Jimmy Smith ..etc

Saints need to remain competitive with a few slip ups but never go back to the dumps.

And I think part of it is just the Saints keeping a lock on Mississippi and parts of Alabama as full Saints country.

This is a good point. The perception of the franchise is night and day. Before Brees/SP the Saints were the lovable losers that had a Kicker who kicked a ball really far one time, a QB who people felt sorry for because he could've been great, and the best LB corps in the history of the game. They were a team that other fanbases looked at and said, "Well at least we aren't the Saints".

There's really not a modern NFL franchise to compare the Aints to. The Lions at least had some championships before the merger and they have the Thanksgiving thing going for them. The Browns also had a lot of success before the Super Bowl era. The other teams that have never won a Super Bowl have all won playoff games or gone to a Super Bowl.

The franchise has been forever changed when we're talking macro but a lot of fans only focus on the micro. Especially Saints fans who grew up during the golden era and only know the Saints as a Super Bowl contender or at worst a dangerous team capable of beating any team in the league even in a 7-9 year. Younger fans have no idea what it was like to head into a season with absolutely zero hope. It's going to be an adjustment for them.

If I had to compare a franchise, the Texans remind me of the Meacom Years in terms of mismanagement.