The things the eyes have seen.
Sure, the visions are a bit dimmer nowadays because naturally, usage over a period of 93 years tends to take a toll.
But in the eyes of Dr. Norman Christopher Francis there almost certainly remains the kind of glimmer of hope that always has been there and still serves to inspire many, that says New Orleans can be just as much a beacon amid the agonies of natural disasters and destruction, as much as it has been amid the ecstasies of construction and rebirth.
Those eyes of the former president of Xavier University – from 1968-2015 he served as Xavier's president, the first Black and first lay president of the school, and the second African American ever to serve as president of a Catholic university in the United States – have witnessed hurricane-level winds of change, hard-earned progress despite formidable opposition and development that stretched the boundaries of the imagination.
So focusing them on massive Caesars Superdome renovations and the hope that the New Orleans Saints can play the Super Bowl in their home city and facility in 2025 might be a reach for some, but is well within the bounds of feats Dr. Francis has seen.
The Saints are set to open their 2024 regular season Sunday against Carolina in the Caesars Superdome and Dr. Francis, who has borne witness to the previous 57 seasons, appears just as ready for No. 58.
He was in on the ground floor with the Saints: In the early 1960s, Dr. Francis was recruited by New Orleans businessman Dave Dixon to help appeal to the NFL to place an expansion franchise in New Orleans. Later, he became an early investor in the Saints.
No doubt, he saw construction of the Superdome from a 1967 blueprint to the 1975 grand opening and in some capacity, laid eyes on the 10 previous Super Bowls in New Orleans – IV, VI, IX at Tulane Stadium, and XII, XV, XX, XXIV, XXI, XXXVI and XLVII in the Superdome.
And in five months, New Orleans will host its record-tying 11th Super Bowl, LIX, in the Superdome on Feb. 9, 2025.
Hopefully, he'll add that to the list of amazing things those eyes have seen.
