Fans’ faith motivates a football team to inspire a city to bounce back after the devastation of the worst hurricane in American history.

Now that should be a movie.

It is called Saints in the Broken City

It is a sports drama

In the vein of Remember the Titans

It is like The Blindside meets Invictus

It follows the long-suffering but passionate Who Dat fanbase

And the powerful national corporation the National Football League

As they seek to rebuild New Orleans after a disaster using the New Orleans Saints and the Superdome as symbols of hope.

Problems arise when the Saints lose games and the NFL seeks to exert its power over the local economy

Together the power of the local community will win over corporate commoditization and inspire the nation

The idea came to me when the Saints won the Super Bowl, and it inspired me that anything was possible as I headed to college.

My unique approach would be boardroom corporatism juxtaposed with grassroots fandom as both rebuild and heal a city from the ground up.

A set piece would be the celebration after the Saints win the Super Bowl. Men, women, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Catholic, Protestant, pour out of upscale mansions, shotgun houses, bars, churches, and fill Bourbon Street and small-town roads as they hug, kiss, and celebrate with each other regardless of race or social divide. During the victory parade through New Orleans floats from Mardi Gras parades usually preserved for just one race or class, such as the Zulu parade, come together for the first time for one giant parade.   

Target audiences would be men and women, 20-80, football fans, sports fans, jazz, blues, and music fans, residents of Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region, and faith-based audiences.

Audiences would want to see it for its elements of Cinderella, underdog, wounded hero, ugly duckling, rags-to-riches and comeback stories, its themes of faith, hope, perseverance, motivation, and community, and its inspirational tale of racial healing and unity and a great American city bouncing back from a disaster from which many thought it would never recover.

Today’s book I would like to pitch as a movie is Saints in the Broken City: Football, Fandom and Urban Renewal in Post-Katrina New Orleans by Casey Schreiber, from MacFarland and Company.

Yes, I know this is my seventh post about the New Orleans Saints and Superbowl XLIV, but this just shows how much their story and that of the Crescent City’s comeback after Hurricane Katrina deserves a movie. After all, there are plenty of books containing material for a screenplay: Coming Back Stronger: Unleashing the Hidden Power of Adversity by Drew Brees, Home Team: Coaching the Saints and New Orleans Back to Life by Sean Payton, Patron Saints: How the Saints Gave New Orleans a Reason to Believe by Alan Donne, and Tales from the New Orleans Saints Sideline: A Collection of the Greatest Saints Stories Ever Told and From Bags to Riches: How the New Orleans Saints and the People of Their Hometown Rose From the Depths Together by Jeff Duncan. Schreiber’s book is just one more exhibit in the case for a movie about the Saints because she adds a piece to the mosaic, the faith of the Who Dat Nation.

It is also different from the other books because instead of being a timeline of the Saints’ road to Super Bowl Victory, it is a thesis on how football parallels social, cultural, and political events. Schreiber examines the themes of identity, community, race, and gender. It is also a look into the interworking of the football industry and how national corporatism can benefit as well as harm local economies.

A screenplay might look like this

ACT ONE

Beginnings (Pages 1-5)

Saints in the Broken City starts with the history of football in the Big Easy. It documents the social impact of bringing the NFL to town, including a desegregated game at Tulane Stadium in the early 1960s between the Chicago Bears and Baltimore Colts, both teams that would later play major parts in the Saints’ story. Desegregated football games helped the city’s image after the photos of 6-year-old Ruby Bridges being escorted by Federal Marshals into an all-white Upper Ninth Ward elementary school had been splashed across the nation. Schreiber chronicles the creation of the Saints on All Saints Day, November 1, 1966, the building of the Superdome, which served both as a symbol that New Orleans could compete with cities like Atlanta and Houston and a buffer against blight, and the 1984 purchase of the team by Tom Benson. And the 38-year losing streak that the team and the people of New Orleans endured.

The losing streak was so bad that many began to wonder if there was a curse on the Saints. Some of the legend surrounding the curse was based on fact since the construction of the Superdome had disturbed the long-abandoned graves of the victims of an 1850s yellow fever epidemic and a 1930s cholera outbreak. (If you Google the pictures of the graveyard, they are pretty creepy). However, the part about the stadium being built on top of the grave of Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau was fictitious. Voodoo rituals were performed to break the curse, but nothing worked. Despondent fans began wearing paper bags to cover their faces in shame and calling the team “The Aints.” In response, New Orleanians began calling themselves The Who Dats, creating a nation that identifies as loyal Saints fans. They created the classic chant “Who dat? Who dat? Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?”

By 2005 the state government of Louisiana had had enough. Governor Kathleen Blanco tried to get Benson to renegotiate the contract between the team and the state, but he stood firm and broke off negotiations in April. One thing Benson wanted most of all was a new stadium to replace the Superdome. Despite a troubled relationship with New Orleans officials, losing streaks and diminishing ticket sells, Benson believed in the faith of the fans who kept coming back. By the middle of August, he had agreed to reopen negotiations with Blanco while at the same time rolling out the theme for 2005, “You Gotta Have Faith.” A commercial celebrated the loyalty of the Who Dat Nation in New Orleans over the past 39 years and ended with a shot of a bumper sticker that displayed the word “Faith.” August 26, 2005, was the last game the Saints would play in the Superdome that season.

Inciting Incident (Pages 5-10)

Then Hurricane Katrina hit. While the epicenter of the category 5 hurricane was farther east in Mississippi, New Orleans became ground zero as pumps and levees failed, flooding 80 percent of the city in the largest urban disaster in American history. Nearly a thousand people died. Due to a poorly coordinated evacuation, tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands, were left stranded. The Superdome, one of the only structures in the city that could sustain Category 5 winds, became the last shelter of resort, holding between 24,000 and 41,000 people, including ticket agents and low-wage workers of the Saints organization. The shelter was more like a prison as armed National Guardsmen searched everyone entering the hot, stuffy, stinky, dark, and overcrowded dome. The power failed and the toilets backed up. The Superdome food staff was escorted to helicopters by Guardsmen with weapons pointed toward the crowd of evacuees. Some of them were so traumatized by the experience they never returned. Due to a false report about evacuation, people became stranded in the heat on the complex’s famous “Bud Bridg.” As the iconic roof of the Superdome was ripped away by the wind, the media reported that “Louisiana’s most famous roof begins to fail” and “CBD landmark in tatters,” while criminalizing the victims of the storm with sensational stories of looting, crime, murder, and mayhem.

Finally, after five days, the evacuation of the Superdome began. By then racial fault lines of the city had cracked as New Orleans began to resemble a third-world country that felt abandoned by America. The vast majority of those trapped inside the stadium for five days were poor, elderly, and African American. They found hope among themselves as they walked up the concourses singing and clapping to “This Little Light of Mine.”

After the storm, the X spray painted on houses that had been inspected by search and rescue groups became known as The Katrina Cross or a Katrina Tattoo.

Another symbol is a makeshift grave that appeared on the corner of Magazine and Jackson streets. Vera Smith was killed in a hit-and-run accident the Tuesday after Katrina made landfall. Her body lay in the street for four days before the neighbors decided to bury her themselves with a sheet and a makeshift grave of bricks.

Second Thoughts (Pages 10-20)

Life almost went on as normal for the Saints. Benson made an exception for his long-standing rule against women traveling on airplanes and buses with the team and allowed the players and employees to mingle. The organization was transplanted to San Antonio, where city officials rolled out the red carpet. Amid rumors that the Texas city was courting them, the Saints went to Carolina to play the Panthers. As the team entered a hotel in Charlotte, displaced persons lined up to watch them enter. One of them broke out of the line and yelled to running back Deuce McAllister, “Deuce, Deuce! I lost everything! I don’t have anything left but you.”

 On September 11 the team had their first regular season game. At 600 shelters across the nation, televisions were set up to allow the evacuees to watch the game. Instead of boos and the culture of “my team will destroy yours,” The Saints were greeted with cheers and standing applause and handmade signs of support and love for the people of New Orleans. Mardi Gras beads sold during the game raised funds for hurricane relief. The Saints won the game, 23-20, raising the spirits of the Gulf Coast. An exemplification of the morale boost was John Carney kicking a 47-yard field goal with three seconds left on the clock. Benson had a picture of Carney in a victorious embrace with quarterback Aaron Brooks printed for each Saints staff member as a memento. (A decision by Sean Payton regarding Carney would later play an important role in his relationship with the fans)

The game against the Giants in New York, originally scheduled to be played in the Big Easy, was considered a home game for the Saints. It was part of the NFL’s Hurricane Relief Weekend. During a television message to raise funds for relief, players from different teams all wore T-shirts with the message, “Be A Saint.” During a telethon, more than $5 million was raised.

But even in this show of solidarity, the Saints were still failing to score big. Top executive Arnie Fielkow persuaded Benson to play home games at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. The Saints continued to lose, and their last home game was played in front of just 32,000 people. Their final loss was in the Alamodome in front of over 60,000 people. Rumors circulated that Benson would move the team to San Antonio. Abandoned refrigerators on the curbs of New Orleans were spray painted with the words “Tom Benson Inside.” When Fielkow, an outspoken proponent of keeping the team near New Orleans, was fired by Benson, he became a folk hero to the Who Dats. Once called “The City That Care Forgot,” the Big Easy was now called “The City That Sports Forgot.”

Climax of Act I (Pages 20-30)

But amid rumors that New Orleans wasn’t worth rebuilding and should be abandoned, NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue convinced Benson to return to the Crescent City, by agreeing that the league with cost-share the emergency funds, sealing the deal by agreeing to repair the Superdome. Governor Blanco also fast-tracked funds to help renovate the stadium. In January 2006 the Saints returned to New Orleans.

In the coming year, Benson made several changes. He hired a new coach, Sean Payton, a new quarterback Drew Brees, and Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush. This was a morale boost to the people of New Orleans, many of whom were still displaced. The rest of the nation was suffering from Katrina fatigue and ready to move on. The many still displaced residents fetl like the word “refugee” diminished their status as American citizens, reinforcing the feeling that their own government had forsaken them. In Houston,  the rise in crime was blamed on “Katrina people” (I remember seeing chain emails with this message). Many Gulf Coast residents began demanding a “Right To Return” to their homes.

In February 2006, 27 Louisiana business leaders committed to support the Saints’ return to New Orleans. The NFL announced it would promote the city through televised games. The biggest news was the announcement regarding the Superdome. Instead of being torn down to leave a huge hole in the downtown area, the shelter of last resort would be transformed from a symbol of despair into a beacon of hope. The World’s Largest Roofing Job, 444,000 square feet of metal decking, would take 144 days.

Act II

First Obstacle (Pages 30-40)

On September 25, 2006, the Saints played their first game in the Superdome since Katrina. The inside was filled while outside many people gathered simply to celebrate the reopening. The media and press box overflowed. A band led the stadium in a rendition of “House of the Rising Sun” that changed the titular building to “Superdome.” A nearby bar projected the game onto the side of an abandoned building. It was a moment of collective joy for the people of the Crescent City, exemplified when just one minute and thirty seconds into the game Steve Gleeson blocked a punt by the Atlanta Falcons’ player Michael Koenen. The game was a smashing victory for the Saints, 23-3. This victory served as the spark to steamroll the revitalization of the city and surrounding area. If the Saints could claw and scratch their way to the top, so could New Orleans. A newspaper headline read “They’re Home, There’s Hope.”

Second Obstacle (Pages 40-50)

Even though the Saints’ 2006 season ended with a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of the Chicago Bears, in which taunts and signs related to Hurricane Katrina like “Category Five Defense” were hurled at fans and players alike, Arnie Fielkow said that the first game back in the Superdome was the catalyst that sparked the rebuilding of New Orleans.

Midpoint (Pages 50-60)

The recovery of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast was not going as well. Some government officials gave the impression that New Orleanians deserved what they got. “We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans,” said one state politician. “We couldn’t do it, but God did.” In December 2007 when the city council voted to demolish the public housing known as the Big Four, pepper spray had to be used on protesters. Housing costs soared. Other residents fell victim to fraudulent contractors. Insurance companies refused to cover flood damages. Checks from the Road Home Program meant for home repair were automatically taken out to pay for mortgages. The rebuilding of New Orleans was marked by more incidents of racial disparity than equality.

Both residents who had returned to the city and the Gulf Coast and those still displaced began to gravitate toward football. A shared fandom created pockets of civility. Watch parties and viewing areas offered inclusive spaces and platforms for residents to further negotiate differing opinions, creating unity through face-to-face interaction, and challenging social indifference and Katrina fatigue. Schreiber’s book quotes a fan using the term “Salt and Pepper” to describe Bourbon Street after a Saints game. The nonprofit group Women of the Storm was created in 2006 to convince members of Congress to visit New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

On Saints Gamedays, diverse people came together, creating what sociologist Elijah Anderson calls a “cosmopolitan canopy… an island of civility in a sea of separation.” After the damaging of race relations, The Saints heal them through “The Miracle of the Hurdles” as everyone came together despite their differences to achieve a goal. Any section of the Superdome served as a cross-section of society where men, women, children, old, young, black, white, Hispanic, Creole, Asian, old, young, gay, straight, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Hindu, etc., could be seen sitting together in unity, cheering on their team. Fans came up with different dances and songs that others joined in. They shared the same energy as they chanted Who Dat in solidarity before each game. They followed Drew Brees’ lead as he exhorted them to “Get Loud.” Outside the Superdome people invited strangers to their tailgate parties. The Who Dat Nation came up with creative ways to support their team. Women invented purses to get past the NFL’s no-bag rule. People wore identical t-shirts like Krew De Drew (for Drew Brees) or Shock It To Me (for tight end Jeremy Shockey). Other fans created all sorts of home and handmade costumes to show their support without buying expensive official NFL jerseys and clothing. Two women came dressed as black and gold nuns, Sister Mary Who and Sister Mary Dat. Outside of the stadium fans sold jewelry, touchdown babies, and black-and-gold themed arts and crafts. Some fans still wore paper bags, but now the whole front is cut out so their faces can be seen under the message “We Dat.”

Third Obstacle (Pages 60-75)

In April 2009 Blanco and Benson reached a deal to keep the Saints in New Orleans until 2025. Part of the deal was that the Benson family would buy five buildings that had been sitting empty and shuttered near the Superdome and remodeled them. Soon work began on Champion’s Square.

The Saints 2009 season got off to a great start. As they came close to their 13-0 record, local artists began to redeem the Katrina Cross, depicting it with images of the Saints and the words “World Champs.” It was now a symbol of hope.

The makeshift grave on Magazine and Jackson streets went on to become a spontaneous and permanent memorial to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, complete with a large metal cross.

Finally, in January 2010, the NFC Championship logo was painted on the Superdome’s field for the first time in history. The Times-Picayune wrote that the Saints would “be playing for the 10-year-old boy who wears a Reggie Bush jersey in sandlot games at Harrell Playground. They’ll be playing for the black-and-gold-crazed teacher at Trist Middle School in St. Bernard. They’ll be playing for the senior citizen who just completed rebuilding their house in the 9^th Ward that Hurricane Katrina pummeled.” The game between The Saints and Vikings was a tug-of-war. The score remained close as the game went into overtime. Everyone held their breath as the Saints’ kicker Garret Hartley sent the ball sailing between the goal posts.

 An ecstatic celebration swept through the city as people realized that the Saints were going to the Superbowl and spilled out onto the streets. Who Dats went into overdrive creating and buying Saints-themed memorabilia. Local musicians churned out tunes and songs honoring the team. Gulf Coast radio stations and businesses played them on continuous loops. Companies had “Black and Gold Fridays” for their employees. Newspapers were stolen the morning after the game and the paper had to produce two additional printings. A hospital put the newborn infants into clothing printed with “Where Saints Fans Are Born.” People carried prayer cards with pictures of Drew Brees for good luck. A church marquee read “Jesus Is Undefeated And So Are His Saints.” On the eve of Super Bowl XLIV, each member of Congress received a small, colorful football tagged with the message, “Be A Saint! Save Our Coast! Invest in America’s Future!” It was from The Women of the Storm. The Buddy D Dress Run, to honor a deceased sportscaster’s promise to wear a red dress and run in the streets if the Saints ever made it to the Super Bowl, was held. Men dressed in all sorts of red dresses and skirts ran through the French Quarter. It was absurd as the Saints going to the Super Bowl.

Schreiber also goes into the economic benefits the Saints have had on the city. Local artists have created all sorts of crafts, from scrappy dolls, touchdown babies, parasols, and jewelry that ranged in price from a few to several hundred dollars. When visiting teams came to play the Saints, the local Who Dats engaged in good-natured jabs at the fans of the opposing teams while encouraging them to spend tourist dollars. By helping the nation recover from Katrina fatigue, the Saints have boosted New Orleans’ economy by restoring its image and making it a tourist destination.

Rising tension between local interest and corporation profit became apparent when St. Anne Street was barricaded off for the Championship game. Signs were set up to remind tourists that local stores on the street were still open. After the game, the NFL sent cease and desist letters to local theaters and other places where Who Dats had gathered to watch the game on big screens.

Fourth Obstacle and Climax of Act Two (Pages 75-90)

The biggest battle between national corporatism and the Big Easy’s economy came in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl and was over the phrase Who Dat. (Note: In a screenplay, time could be condensed, and this could be juxtaposed with the team losing the last three games of the regular season and the death of Brees’ mother). The phrase had adorned everything from mugs to boots to T-shirts that read “Horton Hears A Who Dat.” The NFL began sending notices to local New Orleans businesses to stop making merchandise that bore the phrase. One was to the Fleurty Girl, which had only been opened for two months. The letter instructed the young mother who operated the business as a second job to destroy her entire inventory. A similar letter was sent to a store called Storyville. The locals struck back in a David-vs-Goliath fight. Local merchants slapped Who Dat on a variety of products across the city and the message “Defend Who Dat” appeared in chalk on sidewalks. Louisianan politicians like Republican David Vitter and Democrat Mary Landrieu got into the fight. Courts heard cases about copyright and trademark rulings going back to the 1980s. [In a movie poetic license could be taken and Drew Brees could be portrayed seeing “Defend Who Dat” scrawled through the city while driving to a counseling session after his mother died as a symbol of his personal tragedy versus his public commitment to the Who Dat Nation.]

But to New Orleanians, Who Dat wasn’t a phrase, it was the way they talked, it was a people, a community. Eventually, the corporations realized that imposing their will on local businesses was not worth the effort and backed down, but to the people of New Orleans, it was the triumph of grassroots fandom over corporate commodification.

Act Three

Climax, Descending Action, and Resolution (Pages 90-120)

On Superbowl Sunday, the entire city shut down and rose up in a festive mood. Bars, restaurants, porches, and living rooms were overcrowded with friends, families, and total strangers coming together to watch the game against the now Indianapolis Colts. For one night it is history there was no crime reported in the city. People were dressed in every form of black-and-gold or Saints-themed clothing and costumes. The entire city held its breath as the clock ticked down and then burst into a collective outpouring of love and joy as they realized that the Saints had won the Super Bowl. People poured into the streets, blocked traffic, and danced on the tops of cars. Even the on-duty police officers joined in the celebration. Who Dats hugged and kissed each other regardless of race or social divide.

When the team returned to Drew Orleans, LaBreesiana, they were greeted with a parade larger than any Mardi Gras parade in the city’s history. Floats from Mardi Gras parades usually preserved for just one race or class, such as the Zulu parade, came together for the first time.  So many people were trying to get into the city that traffic was described as a hurricane evacuation in reverse. An additional structure is added to the makeshift grave at Magazine and Jackson to commemorate the victory. A smaller funeral parade was also held for the disparaging term once used for the team, The Aints.

Closing Thoughts

The Saints’ emergence as a leading team in the NFL served as a connection to the city that many people had lost after being removed during Hurricane Katrina. They became a symbol of why a city that many thought should be abandoned could bounce back as a vibrant community. President Barack Obama told the Saints during their White House visit that “This team took the hopes and dreams of a shattered city and placed them squarely on its shoulders.” They gave him an honorary 44 jersey. The Saints’ Superbowl victory is more than a Cinderella story, an underdog story, an Ugly Duckling story, a wounded hero story, a rags-to-riches story. It is a story of how a Great American city that had fallen to the deepest depths of despair could come out on top. It is the story of how the Saints’ labor of love for the Who Dat Nation rebirthed a city.

In 2006 Spike Lee directed a documentary about Hurricane Katrina, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts. In 2010 he released another documentary, If God is Willing and da Creek Don’t Rise, which began with an actress wearing a Saints jersey, tight end Jeremy Shockey’s number 88. Among those interviewed for the documentary were Deuce McAllister and Archbishop of New Orleans, Gregory Aymond, who talked about the Who Dat Spirit of perseverance.

I believe that the story of the Saints and the Who Dat Nation is the perfect candidate for an inspirational football movie. It has all the elements of Cinderella, underdog, rags-to-riches, and comeback stories. More importantly, it contains messages of faith and community healing pain and bridging gaps. Personally, it inspired me, who was not a proficient reader until I was 16 and struggled with math, to take the SAT at age 22. If the Saints could go to the Super Bowl, then I could go to college. In Indianapolis ironically.

Clint Eastwood, Ron Howard, Robert Zemeckis, The Erwin Brothers, John Lee Hancock, or Boaz Yakin would be great behind the director’s wheel. Most importantly, the movie should be filmed in Louisiana and the New Orleans area, hiring locals for crew and extras to give it the real and authentic energy of the Who Dat Nation.

Because it is an inspirational story that honors the faith of the people of New Orleans, I believe that Saints in the Broken City by Casey Schreiber Should Be A Football Movie.

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