Inside Sports magazine 1981 - “It’s Hell Being a Saint” (1 Viewer)

[Mr. Blue Sky]

I live in south-central PA. Always have, probably always will. And that's the question I get, along with "How?"

It's a long story, I was always a closet Saints fan...something about those uniforms just looked COOL to a young 7 year old football player (in the mid-1970s) and I figured with uniforms that cool, they're probably the best team in the league. I learned quickly the two weren't related, and took some teasing and learned to be quiet about it.

But long-time Saints fans will connect the dots when I say I really got into the USFL, and the Philadelphia Stars (my preferred team in that league) with honorable mention to the Michigan Panthers. The Philadelphia Stars had a coach named Jim Mora and a smallish bad-arse middle linebacker named Sam Mills. As a smallish middle linebacker in peewee football, with a bad attitude and bad intentions, he was the chosen one for me. The Stars eventually moved, briefly ending up in NO as the Breakers, and when the league folded, Mora and Mills ended up in New Orleans with the Saints. Along with Vaughn Johnson from the Jacksonville Bulls (my favorite LB of all time) and Bobby Hebert from the Michigan Panthers, who had beaten my Stars in the first USFL championship game.

All my USFL favorites in Saints uniforms....I proclaimed my fandom loud & proud from that moment forward. While so many ask me "why" or "how", true fans of the game will understand that my story of a PA boy becoming a fan of a team in a city and state he's never been in is actually perfectly logical. You don't pick your favorites, they pick you!

Good post.. But i have one little nit to pick.. as someone who was a season ticket holder for the USFL New Orleans Breakers, i can tell you that they were not originally the Philadelphia Stars.. the Breakers, in fact, originated in New England as the Boston Breakers, spent one year in NOLA as the New Orleans Breakers, and then became the Portland (Oregon) Breakers... but their one year in NOLA was truly memorable, with characters like Marcus “Sick as a Dog” Dupree, Johnnie Walton and Buford Jordan.. and it was so much fun to have an actual winning team for once, even though by true 80s NOLA standards (Saints, World’s Fair, etc)- the fun times only lasted for the first half of the year, then they quickly fell apart down the stretch... ah, memories.

 

[Devildog]

I was sitting in the end zone where Mike Lansford made the game winning kick to send the Rams to the playoffs, and keep the Saints from their first-ever winning season, and first-ever playoff appearance... I was 9 yrs old and i‘m STILL p***ed off even as i type this... and to this day, I swear if i ever see that bare-footed son of a ***** kicker Lansford in person, I WILL deck him.

Dude, same. I was the same age and I remember punching a hole in the wall to my mom's disbelief and eventual wrath. Didn't care. I was P'Oed!

 

[Hedon James]

Good post.. But i have one little nit to pick.. as someone who was a season ticket holder for the USFL New Orleans Breakers, i can tell you that they were not originally the Philadelphia Stars.. the Breakers, in fact, originated in New England as the Boston Breakers, spent one year in NOLA as the New Orleans Breakers, and then became the Portland (Oregon) Breakers... but their one year in NOLA was truly memorable, with characters like Marcus “Sick as a Dog” Dupree, Johnnie Walton and Buford Jordan.. and it was so much fun to have an actual winning team for once, even though by true 80s NOLA standards (Saints, World’s Fair, etc)- the fun times only lasted for the first half of the year, then they quickly fell apart down the stretch... ah, memories.

I looked it up....and you are correct!

I knew the Stars had relocated to Baltimore. There were several "folds" and mergers in that last season, due to the USFL switching from a spring to a fall season. I remember the Pittsburg Maulers disappearing that season too. I swear I remember the Baltimore Stars relocating to New Orleans, but you state otherwise and Wiki says you're correct. That was 40 years ago in my world, so I believe you. Thanks for the correction!

 

[SuperSaint]

I was sitting in the end zone where Mike Lansford made the game winning kick to send the Rams to the playoffs, and keep the Saints from their first-ever winning season.

I was so depressed in the weeks following this loss, I threw my college textbooks in a lake...

 

[Saint Taysom]

Fun fact I learned as a kid in the early-to-mid ‘80’s.... If you wear a Saints starter jacket on the South side of Chicago, people don’t think you’re a Saints fan.. they think you’re with the Latin Kings.

 

[SaintJ]

Yep. Those were the days when you wore your Saints gear out...and fully embraced for the ridicule you would receive wherever you went.

You took it and you dealt with it.

Back in those days in New Orleans, we'd gotten keenly aware of how bad things were, and we sure were showing it, but damn if we were going to let anybody **** on us either.

 

[SaintJ]

I live in south-central PA. Always have, probably always will. And that's the question I get, along with "How?"

It's a long story, I was always a closet Saints fan...something about those uniforms just looked COOL to a young 7 year old football player (in the mid-1970s) and I figured with uniforms that cool, they're probably the best team in the league. I learned quickly the two weren't related, and took some teasing and learned to be quiet about it.

But long-time Saints fans will connect the dots when I say I really got into the USFL, and the Philadelphia Stars (my preferred team in that league) with honorable mention to the Michigan Panthers. The Philadelphia Stars had a coach named Jim Mora and a smallish bad-arse middle linebacker named Sam Mills. As a smallish middle linebacker in peewee football, with a bad attitude and bad intentions, he was the chosen one for me. The Stars eventually moved, briefly ending up in NO as the Breakers, and when the league folded, Mora and Mills ended up in New Orleans with the Saints. Along with Vaughn Johnson from the Jacksonville Bulls (my favorite LB of all time) and Bobby Hebert from the Michigan Panthers, who had beaten my Stars in the first USFL championship game.

All my USFL favorites in Saints uniforms....I proclaimed my fandom loud & proud from that moment forward. While so many ask me "why" or "how", true fans of the game will understand that my story of a PA boy becoming a fan of a team in a city and state he's never been in is actually perfectly logical. You don't pick your favorites, they pick you!

And PA is mad football country.

Respect.

 

[St.Dan]

Good post.. But i have one little nit to pick.. as someone who was a season ticket holder for the USFL New Orleans Breakers, i can tell you that they were not originally the Philadelphia Stars.. the Breakers, in fact, originated in New England as the Boston Breakers, spent one year in NOLA as the New Orleans Breakers, and then became the Portland (Oregon) Breakers... but their one year in NOLA was truly memorable, with characters like Marcus “Sick as a Dog” Dupree, Johnnie Walton and Buford Jordan.. and it was so much fun to have an actual winning team for once, even though by true 80s NOLA standards (Saints, World’s Fair, etc)- the fun times only lasted for the first half of the year, then they quickly fell apart down the stretch... ah, memories.

You have a memory like me, then You should enjoy this one, then. Breakers vs. Blitz from week 5 of the 1984 USFL season. It’s still an exhilarating game to watch, some 35+ years later....

 

[Saintman2884]

Good post.. But i have one little nit to pick.. as someone who was a season ticket holder for the USFL New Orleans Breakers, i can tell you that they were not originally the Philadelphia Stars.. the Breakers, in fact, originated in New England as the Boston Breakers, spent one year in NOLA as the New Orleans Breakers, and then became the Portland (Oregon) Breakers... but their one year in NOLA was truly memorable, with characters like Marcus “Sick as a Dog” Dupree, Johnnie Walton and Buford Jordan.. and it was so much fun to have an actual winning team for once, even though by true 80s NOLA standards (Saints, World’s Fair, etc)- the fun times only lasted for the first half of the year, then they quickly fell apart down the stretch... ah, memories.

Hey, lets not be too overly critical and dismissive of the genuine excitement of the 1984's World Fair. I think New Orleans, as a city and in terms of remaking its economic image, has benefited greatly in the long-run. The 1984 World's Fair gave New Orleans residents and outsiders like me the Riverwalk, one of the most well liked, highly visited, well-profitable tourist attractions in New Orleans metro area right next to the adjacent Hilton and Lake Pontachatrain. It set a initial standard for excellence and consumer interest that led to Aquarium of the Americas, and later the WWII museum being built into the world-class attractions they are.


1984 was also sort of the formal beginning of New Orleans transitioning into its current tourism-based economy, instead of just being one of this nation's largest oil and natural gas hubs(which it still is, but not as prolific and powerful as it once was). During the 1960's and 70's, New Orleans was regarded as a wild, insane party town but it was in many respects, a lot more uninhibited, the dive bars, hardcore strip clubs, famous bars and clubs like Pat O'Brien's or restaurants werent exactly known for being family-friendly then it is now. If it werent for Irish Quarter, French Market, Cafe du Monde becoming more accessible and tourist-friendly, it might've taken longer for this city's classy allure, history, multi-ethnic diverse boiling pot of cultures to seduce me over into seeing New Orleans as like my second hometown.

 

[Saintman2884]

I looked it up....and you are correct!

I knew the Stars had relocated to Baltimore. There were several "folds" and mergers in that last season, due to the USFL switching from a spring to a fall season. I remember the Pittsburg Maulers disappearing that season too. I swear I remember the Baltimore Stars relocating to New Orleans, but you state otherwise and Wiki says you're correct. That was 40 years ago in my world, so I believe you. Thanks for the correction!

Another strange correlating fact, around the time the Philadelphia Stars relocated to Baltimore, that city, in terms of its pride, self-image, and clout had taken a enormous hit due to the old Colts leaving their headquarters in Owings Mill, MD. in the middle of the night(with assistance from a group of University of Maryland college fraternity members who felt excited to be part of history unfolding) and all the Mayflower trucks departing to go in different directions to meet up in Indianapolis out of Robert Irsay's fears the MD. state legislature would steal his team via eminent domain (which they were debating and agreed on during the now-infamous, middle-of-the-night move).

As despised, incompetent, and totally crass in terms of being a pathetic drunk owner Irsay was, some of the blame for the old Colts leaving Baltimore has to be put on the city's mayor and the MD. state legislature, who used obstruction, hardball politics, and even utilizing guise of patriotism by the city's comptroller in mid-70's as a way to prevent Colts, Bullets, and Orioles from moving into a brand-new, domed Stadium called the Baltodome in a proposition named Question P. They did similar tactics in preventing the previous Colts owner, Carroll Rosenblum, from getting a new football-duel purpose stadium with the Orioles and by 1972, he just gave up and sold the team in an ownership swap with Rams and sold the Colts to a Chicago-based lawyer, Robert Irsay. A man, his son Steve Rosenblum, admitted in a 1989 New York Times interview, believed he'd be willing to do what he wouldn't: Try as hard as possible to get a new stadium and move out of a crumbling, decaying, antiquated Memorial Stadium or if same Baltimore city politicians still insisted on playing hardball, he'd entertain offers to move or relocate his team to Phoenix, Jacksonville, Oakland even, or Indianapolis. Once Al Davis won his lawsuit to be allowed to relocate the Raiders from Oakland to L.A. in 1982, that was the final loose screws in the dam coming undone and the avalanche pouring insanely in all directions.

 

[UFCSaint]

They're are certain posters in here who have zero clue what we are talking about. And if they ever have to go through lean years like we did...I have no doubt they will be finding another team.

And the funny thing is that they will never click on this thread to even read this because they don't care about the Saints history. They will only care about them as long as they keep winning.

 

[Hedon James]

And PA is mad football country.

Respect.

You ain't joking....and thanks!

I'm actually closer to Baltimore, but that Mason-Dixon line is a big deal when it comes to sports. I'm surrounded by Steelers and Eagles fans, even though Pittsburg is about 4 hours away and Philly is about 2 hours away. I can get to Baltimore in 1 hour. Even so, probably 40% are Steelers fans; 30% are Ravens fans; 20% are Eagles fans; with the last 10% being fans of every other team in the NFL. The last 15-20 years have been pretty good, but growing up, Saints fandom was brutal. Steelers were in the AFC and the Saints sucked back then (Steelers fans still live in that decade, BTW), so we weren't a threat. Ditto on the Colts, and later the Ravens. Eagles fans made up for it though. While the Saints had the Dome Patrol and the best 4 LB corp in the league, the Eagles had a phenomenal defense too, with the 4 best DL in the league. We were often flip-flopping as the 1-2 best defenses in the league. But we collapsed against them several times, including an embarrassing playoff loss in 1993(?), until Deuce McAllister took it upon himself to make sure history didn't repeat itself. Everyone knows that run....EPIC!

Haven't lost to the Eagles in the playoffs since....including a cold-weather playoff game in Philly in 2014. Haven't heard squat from them in years. And with DB9 finally beating the Ravens 2(?) seasons ago, haven't heard anything about the Ravens "owning" the Saints any more. We've whooped up on some pretty good Steelers teams in that time stretch too. I was at a Ravens game circa 2010-2012ish with my sons (their mom is a Baltimore girl, and the Ravens claimed them) and the announcer periodically updates scores around the league, with video animation/highlights on the stadium board. Ravens were in a dogfight that day (vs Chargers?) while the Saints were kicking the crap out of the Steelers in Pittsburg. Ravens were also in a dogfight with the Steelers for divisional standing, and y'all need to understand that the Steelers and Ravens HATE each other, at least as much as Saints & Falcons hate. But I digress...every 5-10 minutes they showed another Saints animation/highlight score and 70,000+ Ravens fans roared in approval. There were a LOT of Saints highlights that day, and the Ravens won their dogfight. I'm wearing Saints gear to a Ravens vs Chargers(?) game, but DOZENS of Ravens fans are giving me thumbs ups, high fives, point & smiles, and several "who dats" on the way out of the stadium. If you've ever heard "the enemy of MY enemy, is my friend." Well I'm pretty sure I was the ONLY guy in Baltimore that day wearing Saints gear to the game, so I had about 70,000+ new friends?!!!

It was a good day to be a Saints fan (and I suppose, a Ravens fan). I felt like one of the Warriors marching through "enemy territory" with permission, cuz I came in peace and offered a Steelers sacrifice. But after DB9 finally beat the Ravens in 2018(?), and Tucker missed an XP, not sure I'm welcome back anymore...LOL!

 

[SaintJ]

You ain't joking....and thanks!

I'm actually closer to Baltimore, but that Mason-Dixon line is a big deal when it comes to sports. I'm surrounded by Steelers and Eagles fans, even though Pittsburg is about 4 hours away and Philly is about 2 hours away. I can get to Baltimore in 1 hour. Even so, probably 40% are Steelers fans; 30% are Ravens fans; 20% are Eagles fans; with the last 10% being fans of every other team in the NFL. The last 15-20 years have been pretty good, but growing up, Saints fandom was brutal. Steelers were in the AFC and the Saints sucked back then (Steelers fans still live in that decade, BTW), so we weren't a threat. Ditto on the Colts, and later the Ravens. Eagles fans made up for it though. While the Saints had the Dome Patrol and the best 4 LB corp in the league, the Eagles had a phenomenal defense too, with the 4 best DL in the league. We were often flip-flopping as the 1-2 best defenses in the league. But we collapsed against them several times, including an embarrassing playoff loss in 1993(?), until Deuce McAllister took it upon himself to make sure history didn't repeat itself. Everyone knows that run....EPIC!

Haven't lost to the Eagles in the playoffs since....including a cold-weather playoff game in Philly in 2014. Haven't heard squat from them in years. And with DB9 finally beating the Ravens 2(?) seasons ago, haven't heard anything about the Ravens "owning" the Saints any more. We've whooped up on some pretty good Steelers teams in that time stretch too. I was at a Ravens game circa 2010-2012ish with my sons (their mom is a Baltimore girl, and the Ravens claimed them) and the announcer periodically updates scores around the league, with video animation/highlights on the stadium board. Ravens were in a dogfight that day (vs Chargers?) while the Saints were kicking the crap out of the Steelers in Pittsburg. Ravens were also in a dogfight with the Steelers for divisional standing, and y'all need to understand that the Steelers and Ravens HATE each other, at least as much as Saints & Falcons hate. But I digress...every 5-10 minutes they showed another Saints animation/highlight score and 70,000+ Ravens fans roared in approval. There were a LOT of Saints highlights that day, and the Ravens won their dogfight. I'm wearing Saints gear to a Ravens vs Chargers(?) game, but DOZENS of Ravens fans are giving me thumbs ups, high fives, point & smiles, and several "who dats" on the way out of the stadium. If you've ever heard "the enemy of MY enemy, is my friend." Well I'm pretty sure I was the ONLY guy in Baltimore that day wearing Saints gear to the game, so I had about 70,000+ new friends?!!!

It was a good day to be a Saints fan (and I suppose, a Ravens fan). I felt like one of the Warriors marching through "enemy territory" with permission, cuz I came in peace and offered a Steelers sacrifice. But after DB9 finally beat the Ravens in 2018(?), and Tucker missed an XP, not sure I'm welcome back anymore...LOL!

I've been living in suburban Philly since the 90s. Older boy loves the Eagles, younger one is a huge Saints fan.

It's actually fine being a Saints fan openly here; the locals pride themselves on loyalty and a sense of not being appreciated, so they understand. They always ask how "my" Saints are doing, and they loved Brees because (1) he's not Brady and (2) he's not Manning, so he's their kind of guy.

Now, I had worked with Jeff Duncan (I know he's not always popular on SR but I think he's a real decent guy) back in 2005 on some stories about Benson and the SA folks trying to keep the team in SA after Katrina. A few years later, he was doing a story on Saints fans in various enemy territories, and he pinged me for a quote about Philly, so I said, "Being a Saints fan here is actually just fine, it's like being a killer in a prison yard; you don't have many friends, but you get your respect" and of course he quoted me by name in the story.

 

[Saintman2884]

You ain't joking....and thanks!

I'm actually closer to Baltimore, but that Mason-Dixon line is a big deal when it comes to sports. I'm surrounded by Steelers and Eagles fans, even though Pittsburg is about 4 hours away and Philly is about 2 hours away. I can get to Baltimore in 1 hour. Even so, probably 40% are Steelers fans; 30% are Ravens fans; 20% are Eagles fans; with the last 10% being fans of every other team in the NFL. The last 15-20 years have been pretty good, but growing up, Saints fandom was brutal. Steelers were in the AFC and the Saints sucked back then (Steelers fans still live in that decade, BTW), so we weren't a threat. Ditto on the Colts, and later the Ravens. Eagles fans made up for it though. While the Saints had the Dome Patrol and the best 4 LB corp in the league, the Eagles had a phenomenal defense too, with the 4 best DL in the league. We were often flip-flopping as the 1-2 best defenses in the league. But we collapsed against them several times, including an embarrassing playoff loss in 1993(?), until Deuce McAllister took it upon himself to make sure history didn't repeat itself. Everyone knows that run....EPIC!

Haven't lost to the Eagles in the playoffs since....including a cold-weather playoff game in Philly in 2014. Haven't heard squat from them in years. And with DB9 finally beating the Ravens 2(?) seasons ago, haven't heard anything about the Ravens "owning" the Saints any more. We've whooped up on some pretty good Steelers teams in that time stretch too. I was at a Ravens game circa 2010-2012ish with my sons (their mom is a Baltimore girl, and the Ravens claimed them) and the announcer periodically updates scores around the league, with video animation/highlights on the stadium board. Ravens were in a dogfight that day (vs Chargers?) while the Saints were kicking the crap out of the Steelers in Pittsburg. Ravens were also in a dogfight with the Steelers for divisional standing, and y'all need to understand that the Steelers and Ravens HATE each other, at least as much as Saints & Falcons hate. But I digress...every 5-10 minutes they showed another Saints animation/highlight score and 70,000+ Ravens fans roared in approval. There were a LOT of Saints highlights that day, and the Ravens won their dogfight. I'm wearing Saints gear to a Ravens vs Chargers(?) game, but DOZENS of Ravens fans are giving me thumbs ups, high fives, point & smiles, and several "who dats" on the way out of the stadium. If you've ever heard "the enemy of MY enemy, is my friend." Well I'm pretty sure I was the ONLY guy in Baltimore that day wearing Saints gear to the game, so I had about 70,000+ new friends?!!!

It was a good day to be a Saints fan (and I suppose, a Ravens fan). I felt like one of the Warriors marching through "enemy territory" with permission, cuz I came in peace and offered a Steelers sacrifice. But after DB9 finally beat the Ravens in 2018(?), and Tucker missed an XP, not sure I'm welcome back anymore...LOL!

The current Steelers/Ravens rivalry is more of a continuation of the old Browns/Steelers rivalry of the 1970's and 80's, except under these circumstances--both teams have actually been great the past 15-20 years as opposed the Steelers being the predominant team that owned the rivalry. What's interesting about the perceptions of how fans view certain NFL teams changing over time is that while Steelers were the eminent dynasty of the 1970's and Philly was just a hard-working, successful contending team full of overachievers that advanced to SB XV and got their arses kicked by a more experienced, veteran Oakland squad in 1980, during the 1980's Steelers sort of became a second-rate afterthought NFL team while both the Saints and Eagles re-emerged as playoff contenders.