I was just reminded of one of my most heartbreaking moments in Saints history (1 Viewer)

[David Robbins]

Year - 1999 ad. Place - Superdome. QB - Tim couch. Moment - end of the game. Incident - hail Mary pass to snatch victory from defeat.

The worst team in the NFL. We weren't much better. Still, we had that game. Dang

 

[Complex Kid]

 

[Tpstr]

Year - 1999 ad. Place - Superdome. QB - Tim couch. Moment - end of the game. Incident - hail Mary pass to snatch victory from defeat.

The worst team in the NFL. We weren't much better. Still, we had that game. Dang

I was there. Had no faith in Ditka before, less than zero after that debacle.

 

[Icon]

I felt differently in those days.....I really didn't become a fan until the Ditka era anyway, and I mainly started pulling for them out of sympathy. When they won, it was cool. When they lost.....well, they were the Saints, that's what they did. Then 2000 happened with Haslett, Blake, Brooks, Horn, etc. My attitude toward losses changed along with my expectations during and after that season.

So yeah..... a Tim Couch Hail Mary in 1999? Briefly annoyed, but quickly moved on.

Losing to Carolina in week 17 of 2002 to complete their 3rd straight loss when only 1 victory would have gotten them to the playoffs? Way different story.

 

[0rion]

I remember how excited I was when they announced Ditka as our new coach....the excitement didn't last long.

 

[HouseCall]

I felt differently in those days.....I really didn't become a fan until the Ditka era anyway, and I mainly started pulling for them out of sympathy. When they won, it was cool. When they lost.....well, they were the Saints, that's what they did. Then 2000 happened with Haslett, Blake, Brooks, Horn, etc. My attitude toward losses changed along with my expectations during and after that season.

So yeah..... a Tim Couch Hail Mary in 1999? Briefly annoyed, but quickly moved on.

Losing to Carolina in week 17 of 2002 to complete their 3rd straight loss when only 1 victory would have gotten them to the playoffs? Way different story.

I have similar feelings.

The Ditka era was the first and only time I became truly apathetic about the Saints. It was very clear that we had a coach that had no interest in rebuilding the team. The modern game had passed Ditka by and by 1999, he’d set the team so far back that what Haslett and Mueller were able to pull off just a year later was nothing short of a miracle.

By 1999, Ditka let Kerry Collins walk for two Billy Joes. He traded the entire draft away for a running back and spent more time on the golf course than at the team facility.

That loss to the Browns was actually good in that it was the final nail in Ditka’s coffin. Well, maybe the second to last. The absolute blowout in Carolina in the final week of the season was probably the final nail - but either way - the team was a mess and needed that kind of loss to the Browns to push Benson to go nuclear.

I remember that game like it was yesterday - but mostly because it was blacked out in Baton Rouge - so I had to listen to Jim Henderson and Stan Brock attempt to make a funeral sound entertaining.

I’d run into Walmart to grab a few items for my new apartment and had just gotten back into my truck when the Saints took the lead late.

After the Hail Mary - I was so eager to hear the post game show that i aimlessly drove around Baton Rouge just so I could hear every angry and disgusted call.

It was fascinating how Brock, Henderson and then sideline reporter Kenny Wilkerson did not attempt to hide their disdain for the mess that Ditka put on the field that day. I recall Wilkerson cutting the locker room interviews short because there was no point in rehashing the carnage.

The saints have come such a long way from that time. 10 years later - Drew Brees would take the Saints to the Super Bowl and win it all. Through the ups and downs of the past 24 years since that Hail Mary game - we’ve never come close to the horrors of the Ditka Saints. Katrina season was rough - but those Ditka
saints were dreadful.

 

[Icon]

By 1999, Ditka let Kerry Collins walk for two Billy Joes. He traded the entire draft away for a running back and spent more time on the golf course than at the team facility.

Kerry Collins was one of those "that was a pretty big deal at the time" transactions for the Saints, and yet I have virtually no lasting memory of anything he did.

I know some of that was because he was only there for nearly half a season......but even the Dallas victory (which I definitely watched) didn't drill Collins into my memory bank. If you told me one of the Billy Joes started that game, I wouldn't have questioned it.

 

[David Robbins]

To listen to ditka in interviews would make you want to play for him. But, he couldn't judge talent. Danny weurfel. C'mon

 

[David Robbins]

The niners were our nemesis in the 80's and 90's. But our biggest nemesis then was Carl Smith. He singlehandedly kept us from doing any damage.

Fans are talking about Sneaky Pete being a unimaginative play caller last year. Go back and look at Carl Smith run offenses.

 

[Saints123000]

Year - 1999 ad. Place - Superdome. QB - Tim couch. Moment - end of the game. Incident - hail Mary pass to snatch victory from defeat.

The worst team in the NFL. We weren't much better. Still, we had that game. Dang

Awful loss, but that's no where near as disappointed as I've ever been. We were terrible that year. We go 4-12 instead of 3-13 with that.

 

[j4m2b]

We werent going anywhere anyway. Meaningless game

Now we can talk about the no call or alex smith sweep to put us out the playoffs.

 

[St. Geezy]

“This year, we’re made of iron!”

 

[whiteshadowen]

Worst day ever. Pearl Harbor Day, 1980
0-13 Saints go up 35-7 at halftime against rival 49ers on 3 First Half Manning TD passes
I run to nearest convenience store, buy a 12 pack and start celebrating.
We lose 38-35 in Overtime.
Hate Joe Montana!

 

[BayouSAINTJoe]

Yeah. Cleveland Fail Mary is down there don't even crack my top 10 - I think I might've laughed at it TBH

1. No Call
2. Meaningless Miracle
3. SF div game
4. Boutygate
5. "He missed the extra point - how can he do that"
6. Loss to Tampa in the playoffs
7. Loss to Minny at home in the playoffs
8. the day Benson had that press conference saying he was starting the process of moving the team to Gulfport or some - he didn't do it but still broke my
9. Johnathan Sullivan trade - pissed me off to give up 2 1s for a DT
10. CSP quitting

 

[boutte]

How many sat through the 62-7 drubbing by the Falcons? (72/73 or so) I watched the whole thing. It left a scar on my psyche.