What's it like being a Saints fan from the beginning, compared to now? (1 Viewer)

[David Robbins]

The great thing is that this is not the same ole Saints I grew up with. The Lovable Losers. The Aint's. Bag wearing, head hanging, cry all night long Saints. Since Tom Benson bought the team, there have been a few bad seasons, but for the most part, this has been a great ride. More winning seasons than losing. Playoff wins, Division Championships, and a Superbowl winner.

All the younger fans have to know that one day, we may go back to that type of football. It's very hard to maintain excellence in the NFL. Sean Payton, Mickey Loomis, and Drew Brees will all leave one day. Hopefully, we will bring in the right people to replace them. But if not, at least we can hang our hats on having a great team for a long time.

 

[VPCajun]

Like being in love with Electronics and technology.

Started life as an Amish child and grew up to live in a Best Buy.

No Cable TV, no Internet, etc etc etc back then!

No VCR's until the 80's. Heck, no Home Computers until the 80s!

I joined the Air Force in '73 - until VCR's came into existence, I had to depend on letters from my Dad which often included a clipping from the Times Picayune about the Saints!

(And, as my signature points out, I was often in "Enemy Fan Territory" throughout my career. And, of course, in the military no one ever gets razzed by Band Wagon Fans from other teams...)

Who Dat!

(Yet, another thing that wasn't around "til the 80s". (The Who Dat chant for the Saints, that is.))

 

[VPCajun]

I was 9 years old. We were living in Baton Rouge on Old Hammond Highway.
They had just finished 4-laning Florida Blvd all the way to Broadmoor and the rumor was they were going to 4-lane it to Denham Springs!
My father came home one day and announced I could no longer be a Packers fan. We were getting our own team!
He said they'd be called the Saints and they'd play at Tulane Stadium until their stadium got built, and that's when he really started talking crazy.
He said that the Saints stadium would be a giant dome, the biggest in the world!
Not only that, but our world was going to change because 4-lane Interstate highways were coming.
We wouldn't have to take narrow, winding back roads to Hammond, through Kentwood, past McComb and Summit to visit my grandmother!
Louisiana was going modern, he said.
The days when you'd come around a curve and find two old men with their pickup trucks stopped in the middle of the road while they talked and sipped beer would end.
When he told me people were actually starting to BUY crawfish instead of catching them in roadside ditches, I wondered why in the heck anybody would pay good money for something they could catch for free.
Everything he said came true. Everything.
You know, sometimes I wonder what we lost. Then, I drive through the backroads past Turkey Creek and come across two old guys with their trucks stopped in the middle of the road, talking and sipping beer.
The old Louisiana is still around. You just have to look for it.

Heeeeeyyyyy - I resemble those remarks!!! lol

(I often do a short motorcycle ride from VP to TC area... Taking the back roads of course.)

Who Dat!

 

[VPCajun]

It was hard to watch my new team playing so hard and still coming up losers by the end of the game. As kid I thought of those names as the best in the business because the Saints players (with little exception) were the only names I really knew. Despite the early growing pains, I was ecstatic when the Saints beat Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Washington in our inaugural year (1967). In year two we won 4 games, and in year three we won 5 games.

Few people realized that 12 wins for a three year expansion team at that time was the NFL record! So in the very beginning it appeared that we wouldn't have to wait over 40 years for a SuperBowl championship.

If I recall correctly, they changed the rules for Expansion Teams starting with Carolina and Jacksonville '95:

1995 NFL expansion draft - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

FOOTBALL; Expansion Teams Pick Big Names, No Names (Published 1995)

www.nytimes.com

When the Saints came into being, "only the scrubs" from other teams were in the mix whereas when Carolina and Jacksonville came along, a pool of talented players from other teams were in the mix.

Thus, both Carolina and Jacksonville had blockbuster years from the beginning: Jags were 9-7 and 11-5 in their 2nd and 3rd years; Kitties were 12-4 and 7-9 in their 2nd and 3rd years.

 

[VPCajun]

Need to look up the "Video Game" called the Oregon Trail! (Actually, no video, all text!) lol

The Oregon Trail

Choose a persona and jump right into exploring the Oregon Trail on Classic Reload! First released to the masses in 1974 by MECC, The Oregon Trail stands out as the most important educational game of all time, holding a worthy spot in the Video Game Hall of Fame. You will need to ration food...

classicreload.com

(Obstacles aplenty and Dysentery!!!)

 

[Zack Lee]

Need to look up the "Video Game" called the Oregon Trail! (Actually, no video, all text!) lol

The Oregon Trail

Choose a persona and jump right into exploring the Oregon Trail on Classic Reload! First released to the masses in 1974 by MECC, The Oregon Trail stands out as the most important educational game of all time, holding a worthy spot in the Video Game Hall of Fame. You will need to ration food...

classicreload.com

(Obstacles aplenty and Dysentery!!!)

I had heard of it but never played it. So yea, watching Saints has basically been like going from that to Red Dead Redemption lol

 

[saintmdterps]

I used to ride my bike to the old stadium and sell sodas at Tulane games to afford season tickets to Saints games on Sunday. Occasionally I sold sodas at the Saints games.

The one play that will forever stand out in my mind was the Lions game. We had another terrible team, of course, I gave my drink rack back and just watched the last few minutes of the game. Last play of the game, we need a record-breaking FG to win the game. I think it was like 63-yards. The Lions thought it was a joke, especially in the heavy NO air. Alex Karass was literally standing up with hands on hips. After the game, he admittedly thought it was a joke. He never rushed the kicker. And we trot out our severely overweight and out of shape FG kicker whose teammates call him "sofa" because they claim that's where he spends all his time in practice and at home, with a half a foot to kick. The stadium was largely empty. Fans were streaming out to their cars and then Sofa, aka Tom Dempsey, kicks the longest FG in NFL history to win with no time on the clock. That was our Saints.

To add a bit to your story, this was 1970 and many people listened to the games on the radio. Those tuned in heard the announcer make the call "The kick is away and...." nothing. Right at that moment bees got into the transmitter and shorted out the signal so radio listeners never heard the outcome of the kick in real time. Kind of sums up the Saints of old

 

[dr61258]

Ernie Wheelright and Tony Barrington (old roster has him as 'Tom') original running backs both.... anybody remember those handles? You watched and hoped and the occasional win was all you needed. So innocent then

Don’t forget Jim Taylor

 

[David Robbins]

No Cable TV, no Internet, etc etc etc back then!

No VCR's until the 80's. Heck, no Home Computers until the 80s!

I joined the Air Force in '73 - until VCR's came into existence, I had to depend on letters from my Dad which often included a clipping from the Times Picayune about the Saints!

(And, as my signature points out, I was often in "Enemy Fan Territory" throughout my career. And, of course, in the military no one ever gets razzed by Band Wagon Fans from other teams...)

Who Dat!

(Yet, another thing that wasn't around "til the 80s". (The Who Dat chant for the Saints, that is.))

Well, you did have Beta Max before VCR's. lol.