[Note: This is the third post in a series about why the New Orleans Saints’ Super Bowl victory should be a movie. See the first two here and here, and the fourth post here.]
The Rebuilding of a Football Team and its Superdome Become Symbolic of the Recovery of a Great American City After Disaster.
Now That Should Be A Movie.
It’s called From Bags to Riches
It’s a Sports Drama
It is in the vein of The Blindside.
It is basically American Underdog meets Invictus
It follows rookie coach Sean Payton
And financially strained first-time team owner Tom Benson
As they rebuild The New Orleans Saints into a team that bring hopes to the Gulf Coast Region after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina
Problems occur when the team loses the last three games of the regular season and other cities offer large financial rewards if the team moves there, leaving New Orleans behind
Together they take inspiration from their fans, the Who Dat Nation, and do their uttermost to reward their loyalty and give the Crescent City something to believe in as they head to the Super Bowl.
This idea came to me when The Saints won Superbowl XLIV
My unique approach to the subject is the recovery of a city paralleling the building of a championship team, a symbiotic relationship.
A set piece is when the Saints are playing for the National Football Championship and are one game away from the Super Bowl. The game comes down to whether a motley looking youth named Garrett Hartley can make a field goal. He had been on the bench for four games due to taking a banned prescription and many fans blamed him for losing the last game. Payton goes out to talk with him and sees that a fleur-di-lis, a symbol of New Orleans, is hanging in the stadium and is perfectly situated between the goal posts. He tells Hartley to focus on the fleur-de-lis, and essentially the people of New Orleans. Hartley focuses. He kicks. He scores! The stadium erupts in euphoria! The Saints are finally going to the Super Bowl!
Target audiences would football and sports fans, men and women 30-90, faith based, Louisianans, and people in the Gulf Coast region.
Audiences would be interested due to the universal themes of recovery, healing, and overcoming and hope in the face of adversity.
Who Dat!
Hello, and thank you for stopping by That Should Be A Movie. Today’s book I would like to pitch as a movie is From Bags to Riches: How the New Orleans Saints and the People of Their Hometown Rose From the Depths Together by Jeff Duncan, from Acadian House Publishing
The New Orleans Saints franchise was formed in 1965. Their black and gold colors were inspired by the Louisiana oil industry, “Black Gold,” and their name came from a song often played by jazz bands on the streets of the Big Easy, “When The Saints Go Marching In.” However, for several years the Saints did not go marching in. In 43 years, they had only nine winning seasons, won only three playoff games, and were one of just five teams that had never made it to the Super Bowl. The 1980 season was so bad the team was referred to as the “Aints” and fans began wearing paper bags complete with eye and mouth holes over their heads during the games. The bags were painted black and gold and sometimes adorned with fleur-de-lys and question marks. Fire marshals tried to confiscate the bags at the gates, but fans snuck in so many that they couldn’t do anything about it. Word on the street was that “Hell would freeze over” before the Saints made it to the Superbowl.
The players gained an unsavory reputation. They were the were castoffs nearing the ends of their careers, the injured, the disgruntled and the unproven rookie. The franchise was referred to as “Boystown in Cleats.” Yet the fans still showed up. When the team won a game in 1987 the day after Pope John Paul II had held mass in the Superdome, many fans showed up with paraphernalia that read “I Still Believe.” But even by 2005 even their faith was beginning to wane, as only 35,000 season tickets were bought. They were the worst team in the smallest market with the oldest stadium.
The old stadium was of concern to Saint’s owner Tom Benson. Once hailed as a hero for buying the team in the 1980s to keep it from moving to Florida, Benson became an object of fans’ wrath as rumors swirled that he was going to move the team to San Antonio, and he haggled with the state of Louisiana for a new stadium. The government pacified him with a new deal benefiting him financially keeping the Superdome. The deal would end in 2010.
The franchise continued to lose money. Renewal ticket sales were down by 50% and the price on seats was raised by $10. There was a clause in the contract that allowed the team a 90-day window to void the deal by paying a 81 million dollar exit penalty. Benson threatened to invoke this clause if he did not get a new stadium. The state of Louisiana claimed that a $150 million renovation of the Superdome would generate more money than a new stadium. Enraged, Benson broke off negations, saying he would not be back until the end of the 2005 season. At the same time the Saints lost 6-21 to the Baltimore Ravens and drowned their sorrows on Bourbon Street while a storm named Katrina gained strength in the Gulf of Mexico.
When the storm hit the Crescent City the Superdome became the refuge of last resort. The Dome was built to withstand the force of a tropical storm but not that of Hurricane Katrina. The storm ripped off three of the 12 storm dampers from their metal moorings. Light fixtures and ceiling tiles crashed to the floor. Water poured in, seeped through doors, and cascaded into stairwells. Large chunks of the rubber membrane that coved the roof were exposed and ripped away, resulting in 60% total roof damage. With 14,000 refugees inside and more in lines snaking around it, the Superdome became an icon of the disaster.
The Saints were displaced to San Antonio where they would practice in the Alamodome. Because of Benson’s connection to the area, including his car dealership empire and 2,500 acre ranch, new fears of him moving the team to the Alamo City arose. During an interview Benson made a comment referring to the Saint’s current location: “We’re a Texas team now.” The comment set off a firestorm of controversy and was considered by Who Dats as “adding salt to the wound.” Team manager Mickey Loomis tried to make up for Benson’s comments by assuring the press that the Saints were committed to returning to the Big Easy. With headlines reading that the Superdome would be demolished, the city would not be rebuilt, and the Gulf Coast would not be economically viable for another 10 years, the people of Louisiana had good reason to fear a move.
Keeping the team in the Crescent City was not financially advantageous for Benson. After a deal was reached where the Saints would play games in Baton Rouge and San Antonio, ticket sales were slower and lower in the former and higher and faster in the latter. He was set to lose between 20 and 40 million dollars. Ticket sales in the Louisiana capitol were so bad that Benson stopped releasing the numbers to the public. He fired his executive vice president when he refused to sign a buyout agreement. Rumors swirled that he would use Force Majeure, “Act of God” clause, to void the contract with the state of Louisiana.
Saints running back Deuce McAllister disagreed. While vising displaced persons shelters in Texas, all the people wanted to talk about was football and when they could watch the Saints play again. McAllister began pushing for the team to return to Louisiana. NFL commissioner Paul John Tagliabue joined the running back in claiming the team was committed to New Orleans but stopped short of saying they would not move to San Antonio.
Benson was welcomed as a hero in San Antonio while storm victims vandalized his office in New Orleans during Katrina. His increased demands for a new contract and new stadium along with claims that the Saints’ Metairie training facility was too damaged for use and the Superdome was no longer viable caused much consternation among Who Dats. After a game in Baton Rouge, Benson had an angry exchange with a fan. Shortly thereafter he knocked the camera out of a reporter’s hands and vowed to not return to Baton Rouge because of their lack of security, believing his family could have been seriously injured or killed. Benson compiled dossier of reports proving that hostility toward him in New Orleans prevented him from bringing the team back to Louisiana. He planned to send this to other team owners before a meeting deciding the team’s fate.
Angry fans flooded radio stations and newspapers with angry attacks upon Benson and accusations of his bottom line being more important to him than the city. “For us in Louisiana, losing the Saints would be the final blow in the complete crushing of our spirit,” wrote a Shreveport resident. “To be stripped of the saints at this hour would be gut wrenching.” Shreveport born former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw and several north Louisiana investors said they were willing to buy the team to keep it in Louisiana. A plane flew over the stadium in Baton Rouge during a game with a banner reading “SOS: Save Our New Orleans Saints.” Fans would show up at games wearing T-shirts and holding signs disparaging Benson with messages like “Owner Needed: Must Be Fan Friendly.” Nasty graffiti began appearing on debris in New Orleans, refrigerators bearing the message “Tom Benson Inside.”
Former Governor Charles Roemer spoke for many when he said “I love the Saints, but I love the Saints’ fans even more. They have stood by the Saints’ side for 30-something years.” Then he turned to Benson’s granddaughter, Rita Benson LeBlanc. “The Saints are our team. They’re not Tom Benson’s team.”
Benson team’s staff was old to photocopy reports of closed schools, limited healthcare options and reports on the poor air quality in New Orleans to send to NFL owners before the vote on whether the Saints would remain in the Crescent City. Afterwards, they challenged Loomis, asking when they could return home, were should they enroll their kids and what should they do about mortgages they held in the Crescent City. The battlelines were drawn: The Saints’ ownership and management and San Antonino on one side and the NFL and the State of Louisiana on the other.
NFL officials with Saints and state officials visited the city met with local and regional business leaders, took a tour of the city and inspected the training facility. The facility was not as bad off as early reports suggested, and market analysis on real estate were promising. The battered and damaged Superdome was another story. The state of Louisiana sent a letter to the Saints formally asking them to return to their training facility in Metairie. Then in December Benson issued a surprising memo to his staff saying they would resume operations in Louisiana in mid-January. No one seems to know what changed Benson’s mind. Was he strong-armed, sweet-talked, or promised a financial windfall? Or, mostly likely, did he realize that the people of the Golf Coast reason needed help and the it was the Saints? Whatever his reasons, the people of New Orleans forgave him enough to unveil a statue of him outside the Superdome in 2014.
Moving back to New Orleans seemed to play the fickle hand of fate and kickstarted an increased run of good luck for the forlorn team. It started when the Dallas cowboys fell short of the playoffs in the final weekend of the regular season. This allowed the team to interview their assistant coach Sean Payton instead of waiting until Dallas had completed the playoff season.
It was Mickey Loomis first time searching for a head coach since he became manager in 2002. He settled on Payton. The Saints were not Payton’s original choice. The Green Bay Packers had been courting him but went with someone else. Payton did not wallow in disappointment for long, remarking at a press conference, “I hope that in some small way the effort of this team in 2006 and beyond will represent this city and region well and show the country that New Orleans is back and someone to be reckoned with in the NFC South.” Payton was not one for motivational speeches. “I believe in the process. I believe in preparation. I believe in attention to detail, over and over again. There’s nothing magical to winning in this league. It’s difficult.”
According to Duncan, 2006, Year 1 after Katrina was one of denial. The city was still a ghost town. Whole blocks of the city were still littered with debris and battered lots. Homes still bore waterline marks and the FEMA “X” codes sprayed in black paint. Those who had returned had to drive miles for basic goods. Lines of cars snaked around fast-food restaurants whose depleted workforces struggled to keep up with orders. Two of the three credit-rating agencies on Wall Street had downgraded Louisiana creditworthiness. Only half of the hospitals had reopened. The suicide rate was at 300% of pre-storm levels. Emergency calls to police involving people who needed psychiatric treatment was 15 percent higher than before Katrina. Bars, casinos and concert venues boomed as New Orleanians sought distractions from their misery.
Just 17% of the Regional Transit Authority buses were running and only 49% of public transportation routes were open. The streets were still covered with potholes and nails. Mayor Ray Nagin had cut 40% of the city’s workforce, thus trash pickup and other public amenities in “The City that Care Forgot” were lacking terribly. Weeds overgrew the neutral ground in the middle of streets.
Grassroots organizations of private individuals began cutting the grass and cleaning up the streets and gutted and rebuild the homes. Private entrepreneurs started businesses to fill for the missing civil amenities. New Orleans citizens began to challenge the corruption and incompetence of City Hall. They conducted marches and held meetings.
The grassroots movement and the quest for solace merged at the Dome, expressing itself in Saints fandom.
Despite Newsday picked the Saints as 15th out of 16 in the NFC, support of the team was at an all-time high. Tom Benson held a press conference to announce that the club had sold a recording breaking 65,000 tickets and were on track to sell out the entire season for the first time in history. After the announcement that Heisman trophy winner Reggie Bush had joined the roster, the ticket sales when through the roof. More than 100 of the dome’s 137 suites had also been sold. Many Who Dats saw it as their civic duty to open their wallets and do what it took to keep their beloved Saints in the Big Easy. Fans as far away as Ridgeland, Mississippi, who had never bought tickets before secured season tickets. Sales of fleur-de-lis merchandise skyrocketed. “We have recently made history here in this city for some not-so-great things” said Tom Benson at his pre-season press conference. “But I think this is a start to something good in our city – maybe even something great.”
The NFL allowed the Saints to play their first four season games on the road as the Superdome was in the initial stages of a multi-phase $320 million renovation. Construction had begun in late February and passing motorists watched the Dome undergo a seven-month-long facelift, its roof transformed from a rusty pockmarked hull to a beautiful, gleaming white dome. A fixture in the city’s downtown skyline, it became a beacon of hope to the thousands of New Orleans area residents who still lived elsewhere, a symbol that it was worth the chance to come back and try to rebuild their lives. To residents already there, it was a much-needed motivational boost. The return of Saints games to the Superdome was one more step toward normalcy, another indication that life as they once knew it was coming back to New Orleans. [Duncan, p. 116-117]
A giant banner hung for weeks on the side of the Superdome announcing the first game would be held in the Dome on September 25, hailed as Miracle Monday. What Doug Thornton and the dedicated construction team pulled off to complete the multiphase, multimillion renovation on time was nothing short of a miracle. The Dome was different, better. The original timeline for renovating called for a November completion and even that was a rushed job. NFL Officials knew that wouldn’t do. The city needed the Saints back for the full 2006 season. They had to get Tom Benson out of San Antonio before he dug his heals in any deeper. In December 2005 Doug Thornton came up with an outline of key financial and organizational objectives. A 90-day window from mid-December to mid-March would make or break the project. Thornton convinced Governor Kathleen Blanco to take advantage of the state of emergency and sign an executive order that expedited the construction process.
A team of 50 architects and contractors spent nearly three months going over every nook and cranny of the 1.9-million-square-foot facility with flashlights and hard hats to assess the damage. It was estimated that the Dome had sustained $8.8 million in damages. All the technological systems and cables, connections and wires had to be replaced. 40,000 tons of debris, 700,000 square feet of drywall, 800,000 square feet of ceiling titles and 1.6 million feet of carpeting had to be removed and 3.8 million gallons of water was extracted from the Dome and its garages. 22,000 seats needed replacing. The $32.5 million roof replacement job was the largest and costliest in U. S. construction history. 120 roofers worked for nearly four months. 10,463 pieces of galvanized metal decking were removed as 500,000 gallons of polyurethane foam sealant were sprayed over the 9.7. acre surface. 35 sub-contractors and 850 laborers worked 6 am to 6 pm on weekdays and 7 am to 4 pm on weekends to make the September deadline. Despite the hectic hours and being apart from their families, many of the workers felt proud of what they were doing, helping the city’s recovery from disaster. Renovation was completed in mid-July, 40 days ahead of schedule. Standing among several vacant and battered buildings, including a hospital, the Dome was a 27-story, 52-acre symbol of the city’s resurgence, a totem of progress.
The game was a complete sellout. Saints fans had been notoriously late in the past, but now they could not wait to get inside the new stadium and checkout the new sound system, new scoreboards and new lighting. 2,000 people showed up at a pep rally at Lafayette Square. Tailgaters arrived a full 14 hours before kickoff. The crowd around the Dome began spilling out on the street at 4 pm. Drew Brees was nearly late due to the traffic. One hundred and forty-eight first responders, law enforcement, helicopter pilots, military officers and ordinary citizens who had heeded the call for help during the storm, were scheduled to enter the building first. They lined up outside the superdome amid a sea of humanity, a crowd of 70,003 chanting “Who Dat.” Vehicles parked nearby shook from the vibrations.
The “Domecoming” had been built up for several months after NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue’s announced the league’s intention to commemorate the Saint’s return to the Dome with a Superbowlesque lineup of musical entertainment. The Goo Goo Dolls performed outside the Superdome for an hour before the game. Local Music legends Irma Thomas, Allen Toussaint and Kermit Ruffins collaborated on the National Anthem. U2 and Green Day performed during halftime. Songs included” “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” which because of its title had become a melancholy anthem during the months after the storm., “House of the Rising Sun” but with the titular changed to The Superdome and “Better Days,” a song written for Christmas, but carrying double meaning in post-Katrina New Orleans. Bono sang “Beautiful Day,” with slight changes to the lyrics.
See Gentilly and Lakeview / Crescent City right in front of you.
Birds sing in broken trees / coming home to New Orleans.
Lower Ninth will rise again /above the waters of Lake Ponchartrain.
See the bird with the leaf in her mouth/ After the flood, all the colors came out.
The excitement was so palpable that when the crowd erupted in cheers after Curtis Deloatch scooped up the ball for a touchdown, that he made a beeline for the goal post. Spiking the ball over the bar with a one-handed reverse dunk, he nearly hit his helmet on the cross bar, 10 feet from the ground. “I was going crazy,” he later told reporters. “You could feel the dome just rocking. We must have celebrated for 20 minutes” The referees did not throw any flags. Strangers hugged each other. Fans tumbled over seats and spilled out into the aisles. The celebration continued out into the street and through the night.
Steven Gleason, whose famous block had led to Deloatch’s touchdown, knew what he had done for the people of the Gulf Coast. “I felt like I was in every inch of the Superdome, up in the crowd. I’m just so happy I could do that for the people…I’m the little kid that dreams of playing in the NFL and doing something great. And tonight, I did it, man.”
Governor Blanco issued a Thank the Saints initiative, an online program through which fans wrote personal messages to members of the Saints organization. A special email website set up by the governor’s office collected thousands of messages, with emails coming from every state and from around the world. In less than two weeks more than 1000 messages had been collected. The testimonials were compiled in a binder as thick as the New Orleans’ white pages and sent to the team.
The question of the Saints’ location wasn’t over just yet. A few days before the game, a San Antonio Express News columnist quoted a source close to Tom Benson claiming that in the new year the team would be in the Alamo City. SI.com ran a story that Benson had a standing offer on the table for $1 billion to move the team to Canada.
To Be Continued…
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