A co-worker, the same one who for the whole week leading up to the Super Bowl would stop by my desk three or four times a day and ask me are you getting nervous yet, stopped by Tuesday, (and no I didn’t go to work Monday), and said I still believe the Aints won the Super Bowl. I immediately came back with, they didn’t – the Saints won the Super Bowl – the Aints haven’t existed in a long time. People seem to forget that the Saints were one game away from playing the same Colts in the Super Bowl in 2007. Then they had a half the team hurt and went 7-9, and last year’s 8-8 record could have easily been 13-3 as they lost 5 games by a total of 8 points and closed out the season winning 5 of the last 6. The Aints now play in places like Cleveland, Oakland, and his team Washington, D.C.
Forget Endymion, forget Bachhus, forget Zulu. The Super Bowl champs have set a new standard for superkrewes and their Mardi Gras parades.
Anyway, the Super Bowl Champions (I smile every time I say it) put on a parade that only could happen in New Orleans. Forget the Endymion parade, the Super Bowl champs have set a new standard for superkrewes. New Orleans went all out, deliriously welcoming back the team that brought home the hardware after 43 years. Saints fans were packed 15 deep along the streets of the Central Business District on Tuesday, braving temperatures cold enough that New Orleans officials had to enact the city’s freeze plan. But who really cared? As diehard Saints fans who had endured the ridicule for years partied throughout the night.
As the parade got set to roll, the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve band got the crowd primed with the unofficial Saints anthem, “Halftime (Stand Up and Get Crunk).” The second float featured quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees, his backup, Mark Brunell, and the men in charge of protecting them: the offensive line.
The floats were loaned by Krewes of some of the biggest parade organizations. The float with the runningbacks also featured beloved Saints former tailback Deuce McAllister, who led the team onto the field in the NFC championship game and then retired. The crowd responded as if it was third-and-one on an October afternoon in the Dome: “Deuce, Deuce, Deuce.”
Coach Sean Payton, on a float with his family, held the Lombardi Trophy high above the crowd, kissing it over and over and blowing kisses to the crowd. He also showed off some dance skills, rhythmically pumping the trophy in the air while bouncing up and down, as “Halftime” blared yet again. As his float stopped in front of Gallier Hall, where politicians and other dignitaries gathered, Mayor Ray Nagin toasted the coach — and his “gazubas” — and led the crowd in a “Who Dat” chant.
Coach Payton, in turn, promised: “We’ll see you again this time next year,” to thunderous cheers.
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