In the annals of Saints history, there are many memorable names. From Archie Manning to Bobby Hebert, Steve Walsh, John Fourcade, Danny Wuerfuell and Aaron Brooks, there have been many good quarterbacks to play for the Black and Gold. Some, like Manning and Hebert, are legends to the Saints faithful, and others, like Brooks fall into the category of infamous. I can remember one instance in his final season where Brooks threw an interception and the cameras caught him laughing and joking on the sidelines; my father stopped watching the Saints after that. When New Orleans showed him the door along with Jim Haslett, my dad started watching again.
And now we have Drew Brees, who, when it’s all said and done, may wind up being the most beloved of any player to ever don the uniform in New Orleans. Number Nine wore a knee brace in this weekend’s game, but that wasn’t enough to hold up Brees and the Saints passing attack. In his four seasons in the Big Easy, Brees has become the face of the franchise and finds himself on the cover of Madden Football this season, the first Saint to ever grace that box.
Then at running back, Charles Rogers, Dalton Hilliard, Reuben Mayes, Craig “Ironhead” Hayward. Now we have Pierre Thomas and the oft-injured Reggie Bush. When Bush came into the league, it was expected that he would be the league’s leader in all-purpose yards and the face of the franchise, but who can blame anyone for seeing Brees as that portrait at the top of the Saints photos. We saw a different Saints offense last week without the homerun threat of Bush, whose multiple skills gives defensive coordinators around the league nightmares in trying to gameplan for him. Thomas has been a workhorse, though last year Michael Bush led the team in carries.
Linebacker is the position that brings back the most memories for me. Any Saints fan will remember the “Dome Patrol” of Hall of Famer Rickey Jackson, Pat Swilling, Vaughan Johnson and Sam Mills. Jackson of course went on to even more fame with the former NFC West rivals in the San Francisco 49ers, but his contributions to the Saints in his time there were outstanding. Jonathon Vilma has carried on the tradition of top flight Saints linebackers since coming over from the Jets, and Scott Fujita played well enough to land a big contract elsewhere after the Saints Super Bowl victory.
After the NFL Championship, all of these faces and names will forever be etched in the memories of Saints fans everywhere, even above those traditional heroes such as Manning, Hilliard and Jackson. It’s nearly impossible to think of any quarterback being ranked higher in Saints history than Archie Manning, but Drew Brees has done it. After Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans and all of Louisiana and southern Mississippi needed a boost, and the high powered Saints offense and solid defense brought hope where none had really existed before. From the first-ever winless season back in the 70s, through the mostly brutal 80s and 90s and the silly Saints of the early 2000s, this Saints fan and those who cheer for the Saints in these days can say something that probably no other before us can: we can hope for a very good team that will contend for titles on a consistent basis. For me, that’s more than enough to be satisfied with watching football on Sunday. Ghosts of the past start to fade, and the new stars shine brighter than those that came before.
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Kenneth works full time as the general manager for HomeSmart of Monroe, LA, a division of Aaron's Inc. 2002 graduate of Louisiana Tech University, he is a long-time Saints and Auburn Tigers fan, and watches all four major North American sports when he has the opportunity. 