"We never stopped believing."

I know, right?? A girl who loves football. But my dad lived his whole life in Washington, DC, and I knew how to sing "Hail to the Redskins" before I knew "Jesus Loves Me." Then we moved to the Gulf Coast when I was 11. But I didn't take to the Saints right away. Probably because they sucked. People called them the Ain'ts and fans literally wore paper bags on their heads to the games. Embarrassed to be seen as an Ain'ts fan.

But then in high school, I met Shelley. And Shelley was a Saints fan. And she personified true fan devotion. And I was kinda into that. Plus, the Saints kicker was really cute. And believe me, when your team never scores touchdowns, you kick A LOT of field goals. And you get really GOOD at kicking field goals, too.

My senior year, the Saints went 7-9. For my graduation gift, Shelley recreated a win over the Falcons by a field goal in the last second.


It was a time when Saints fans could get excited simply because WE HAD WON A GAME.

The picture is faded but I've held onto it all these years. It holds a special place in my heart. Or maybe I was just waiting for something else that Saints fans could be excited about.

Which explains why I cried like a baby when the Saints won the NFC Championship game and thus a trip to the Superbowl. It seemed like a DREAM. Could this be REAL?

I told my husband several weeks back that if the Saints went to the Superbowl, I was definitely having a Superbowl party. My aunt (from Louisiana) drove three hours from her home in Arkansas. A former co-worker of mine who grew up in NOLA came with her husband and adorable three teenage Saints girls!! I ordered a trophy cake:


It was an amazing party, because it was an amazing game. And we all were so invested in the outcome! So we sat glued to the screen like bugs to a light. We screamed. We clapped. We jumped up and down.

And in the end, we cried. We hugged. We asked, "Can this be real?" I was afraid, like a bad episode of "Dallas," I would wake up to find the entire season was a dream. Can this even be POSSIBLE??

Shelley wasn't here with us because she lives in Europe. She watched online and corresponded with her old high school pals on twitter and facebook. She skyped with her mom at their Superbowl party.

I posted a photo of the 1984 drawing and sent Shelley the message "I think I need another picture now, 26 years later!" At first, Shelley didn't remember it. Now an artist, she had actually forgotten that she had already started drawing in high school. But the recognition of what it was — combined with the realization that I still HAD IT — sent tears flowing again, flowing all the way across an ocean.

Shelley's the reason I became a Saints fan in the first place, some 30 years ago. We've been through a lot of bad years, us Saints faithful. But we never stopped believing.

People around the country see the Saints as a symbol 0f a region that has seen the lowest lows. Saints football is like a religion on the Gulf Coast. It's not about Katrina. Loving the Saints is about a way of life. It's best articulated by the now-famous chant, "Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?" We can't explain it to you any better than that. We can't explain it to you if you don't live it.

I hope Shelley does another drawing.