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Pete Finney, a New Orleans sports reporter and columnist for 68 years, died Saturday morning at his New Orleans home. He was 88.

Finney covered the New Orleans Saints since the team's inception (Read his original story on the team’s arrival).  

He received the Saints Hall of Fame's Joe Gemelli Fleur de lis Award in 2013.

Saints senior writer John DeShazier, a longtime colleague of Finney's at the Times-Picayune, wrote on his friend’s passing.

Below is a statement from Saints owner Tom Benson:

"Peter Finney has been a long time contributor to the sports coverage in our city for as long as I can remember. He is someone that our city should celebrate and cherish his legacy. My wife Gayle and I personally have respected him and his work, and certainly he has had a major impact on sports in our city. He told the story of the Saints to generations of readers and he helped grow not only fan interest in the Saints but in our great city covering Super Bowls for years. He will be missed and we are truly sorry about his passing. Our thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family during this time."