!

Pam Bane, Little River, S.C.

Mention that game to me and I still break out in a great big smile. We made plans to go down to some Mardi Gras parades before it got so crowded, rooms were cheap so we figured what the heck lets go. Booked the room, did not think much about what weekend it was till all of a sudden it dawned on us it was Super Bowl weekend too, great a bonus. Now me being a Saints fan for as long as I can remember knew they were playing like never before but just did not say a lot about it as I did not want to jinx it cause I knew the Saints were going to be the champs. Heading down to New Orleans with a change of planes in Atlanta we were greated with a whole lot of Who Dat and all the airline employees dressed in that wonderful black and gold. 

Got to New Orleans and the Who Dat was on. 

We got caught up with Mardi Gras parades that Sunday and then realized we had no where to watch the game, we split up and two of us went one way and two of us went another, first one to find a bar stool we could stand on was to call the others. My friends called and said they were at Lafitte's Blacksmith Bar and had four bar stools, it was on then, I ran all the way there and got in the door just in time for kickoff. Yes, this was the greatest game on earth. At some point during the game some famous actors wandered in, not naming names, and all anyone said was get out of the way you are blocking the TV. We screamed we yelled and then it was over the Saints had won. We rushed out to Bourbon Street looked and realized everyone else was still in the bars. All of a sudden people came running from everywhere, it was like they just appeared through the mist. I have never been hugged and kissed as many times I was that night. Who Dat, Who Dat was all you could hear. I never wanted that night to end. I had yelled so much that I could not even talk for the next three days but somehow managed to get out some Who Dat's all the way home. What a weekend to remember.

Trudy Eagan

On Carnival cruise with 2800 Who Dats. Dancing to all Saints related songs on the decks after game. Captain flying the Saints flag as we pull into port in Key West. People yelling Who Dat at every port. Crazy fun night.

FINALLY WON! BLESS YOU BOYS!

Lauren Easley, Houma

There are a lot of memories that I have from attending the Super Bowl in Miami. At age 48 I had been watching the Saints all my life, and could not believe that they were finally playing in the SuperBbowl. The first thing I can't forget is the security guard at the Biloxi airport wishing the Saints luck and his comment "I just hope the Saints don't get beaten too badly, I hope it's at least a good game."  The day of the Super Bowl was a beautiful sunny cool day, perfect weather. 

I remember during halftime there was a man sitting in front of us and he was discussing the game with others. He clearly said "I am telling you all that Sean Peyton will try an onside kick." No one would agree with him, and then that's exactly what they did! The Tracy Porter interception made it very real to the fans that the Saints could actually win, and one thing that stands out in my memory about the whole game was the level of emotion of the Saints fans. When it was over and the Saints had won, there was of course a lot of cheering and tears by the Who Dats, but there was also many fans just standing there smiling, just in shock that the Saints had actually won the Super Bowl, lost in thought and enjoying the moment. When we got back on the bus to ride back to the hotel, there were very few Who Dats on the bus, so it was very quiet when we got on and we endured a lot of stony glares. As we walked down the aisle to find seats, as we passed one guy firmly said Who Dat!!!

Greg Smith

I posted this on my facebook page on Feb. 6, 2010.

"Witnessing History - I'm leaving Dallas tonight and making my way home to New Orleans. Approximately 100,000 other people are migrating there with me to watch the Saints in the Super Bowl. USA Today called this "unprecedented." I felt compelled to be there for myself, my deceased dad, and for two full generations of Saints fans no longer with us who waited their entire lives to witness history. Regardless of the outcome, our Saints, our fans, and our city has finally MADE IT!!! I just hope it doesn't take another 43 years for the next one! Geaux Saints!"

My friend Ken Wisdom and I booked a room at the Loews Hotel on Poydras and watched the game in a packed lobby on big screen TVs the hotel had set up. After the final seconds wound down and our incredible victory secured, everyone was screaming and jumping around. Strangers hugged strangers. People openly wept, myself included. The party on Bourbon Street seemed like an unearthly experience.  Luckily I recorded every special second on my DVR and watched it repeatedly when I returned back to Dallas.

One of my most memorable life events...ever!  Can't wait to experience it again! Who Dat?!!

Joe Kotik

My Super Bowl XLIV memory is a great one. I am an outrageously huge Drew Brees and New Orleans Saints fan from Cleveland and my sister is and outrageously huge Peyton Manning fan. Finding out they both were going to be in the Super Bowl was so exciting and started the little rivalry between her and me. The Super Bowl was while she was away at college and I was in high school and I asked her to come home but she said she couldn't because she had to work. Little did I know she surprised me on Super Bowl Sunday! The game was amazing. So many great plays including that onside kick after halftime. I was so nervous the entire game because it could have gone either way and then it happened. Tracy Porter intercepted Peyton and I instantly jumped up from the ground and started screaming and jumping around blocking other people's view of the T.V. The Saints went on to win and Drew Brees was MVP and all was good! I even took victory laps around my house and knew right away that I had to buy Super Bowl apparel, which I later did. It was one of the greatest moments for me and I couldn't imagine how it felt to be apart of the organization or in the city of New Orleans. I can't wait until next season to live the dream of hoping to capture another one!

Kristen Baker

OH.MY.GOODNESS! The whole weekend was awesome! Much to everyone's amusementl, I had been saving up for this moment since I was 13 (17 years) so I was prepared to go with my family and enjoy what would become the best day of my life! There were fans everywhere (mostly SAINTS fans.) I learned that Colts fans do not really cheer or dress up. When I asked a fan about this, they said it was because they were refined.  Hmmm..that sounded boring to me! The day of the game we had brunch, dressed in our garb, and headed to the stadium. It was AWESOME! The whole Who Dat nation was there! We walked through the fan zone and my brother Russell and I were photographed and interviewed a lot. Even Colts fans wanted to take pictures with us. Once we got into the stadium, we were so excited because our seats were awesome! The Who was sitting right behind us and Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were above. And most importantly, the SAINTS were right in front of us. When they took the field, I teared up. I yelled so loud that I lost my voice. The whole stadium knows who the No. 1 fan is now! The Colts did not cheer very much. The highlights of the game for me were when the SAINTS took the field, our post halftime onside kick, the 2-point conversion, the interception, and when Sean Payton pumped the trophy up and down (I teared up then too).  After the game while we were waiting to get on the elevator, a group of Colts fans came by with their bodyguards and people were trying to take pictures of them. The girl was pretty mean to everyone so I shouted WHo Dat at her a lot. Somebody said it was Kendra so after she left I began calling her pouty pants Kendra. Then I learned that her husband is Hank Baskett (the Colts player who didn't catch the onside kick which allowed the SAINTS to get it back and score). I guess I would be pouty, too. So, if you are reading this Kendra whoever you are...I apologize.  After the game, it was crazy. I hugged so many strangers. On the ride home, we blared WHO DAT music and the whole family sang along. The SAINTS winning the Super Bowl is now the best day of my life!

!

Sandra Hart, Orlando, Fla.

Living in Orlando so far away from home, the city, the people, and my beloved Saints, being at the Super Bowl with my son Kevin will be forever embedded in my memory and  in my heart. All the years of waiting saying "there's always next year," was over, and the moment was finally here. The Saints were in the Super Bowl. It was only two weeks before the Super Bowl and it may have been a twist of fate, or perhaps a miracle, that I was able to find two tickets. The person I bought them from could not go because he worked for NASA and they had a scheduled shuttle launch the morning of the Super Bowl, and even better...the seats were 10 rows from the field. I can never thank him enough.

When my Kevin and I arrived in Miami, we knew by all of the media hype that the Saints were the underdogs...but I believed. We believed. In Miami the outside of the stadium was decorated with pictures of Drew and Peyton Manning. Our time had arrived. Then we were there, 10 rows from the field and there were moments that I had my doubts as the game progressed. I am forever thankful for the woman sitting next  to me on my right from home (New Orleans) who would grab my hand and say "have faith...It's our time."  She was right, it was our time and as the minutes ticked away on the clock and the final score was posted, I got lost in my own screams, hugging my son and saying WE DID IT. WE WON.

Amanda Meehan Willow Beach, Ontario, Canada

We live north of Toronto, Canada and on Thursday night before SBXLIV I was asked if I wanted to buy two tickets for the game! I had 20 minutes to find flights and a hotel for my daughter and I to fly out the next morning to make it happen!!!

Cost - crazy
Stress - out of this world (our game tickets got stuck in the malfunctioning hotel room safe and we got them out two minutes before the taxi was due to pick us up for the game.)
Experience - mind blowing
Memories with my daughter - PRICELESS

Go Saints Go!!!!  

Wendy Amato, Slidell

Sorry this is lengthy but blame it on my passion.
While our Domecoming game STILL brings tears to my eyes, Super Bowl 44 stirs an entirely higher level of emotions.
Although some chose to go to Miami, me, my husband and our whole family felt in our hearts what better place to watch our boys - in their first ever Super Bowl - than our beloved city. We wanted to be in DAT number.
We spent the day in Harrah's but from the first kick off, all gambling ended! They could have EASILY asked us to leave but, instead, they continued to shower us with free drinks. Of course we all said "we're just happy The Saints are in it" but winning that game meant so much to so many people in this region, us included.
After, the entire city poured into the French Quarter. Our family stood on the corner of Bourbon and Toulouse and high-fived, fist-bumped and hugged person after person after person for nearly four hours! Who knew something that simple could be so much fun and bring thousands of people together in harmony. I always say, Who Dat Nation does not see white or black rather we all see Black and Gold.
We are forever grateful to Sean Payton, Drew Brees, the entire team and, more importantly, Tom Benson for NOT moving The Saints to any other city.

Brian Cameron, Slidell

My wife, Alicia, gave birth to our son just a month and a half before and he was a Saints fan since the day he was born. So we think he was our good luck charm. As the game went on, he fell asleep in Alicia's arms and it got to the point where Hartley was about to kick the field goal. I told Alicia to let me hold on to him so she could cheer. When we made the field goal she yelled, jumped, and cried for joy. I stood there as still as possible thanking our little good luck charm for the Super Bowl win and kissing him while he slept. That same year, my college alma mater, Auburn, won the national championship, so he brought both of us luck.

Carolyn Padrón, Brooksville, Fla.

I had moved away from New Orleans in 2002, but like most Saints fans, I never stopped cheering for my hometown team. I now live in Central Florida and when my three sisters that are still in Louisiana told me mid-season that the Saints were undefeated I tried to catch every game I could. Well, when they made it to the Super Bowl it was the most exciting thing that I could ever imagine. But here I was hundreds of miles away from my Saints family and surrounded by Buccaneer and Peyton Manning fans. I have to admit I'm a fan of Peyton Manning, too, but anyone playing to beat the Saints is an adversary of mine.

I decorated the whole house with every piece of Saints memorabilia I had saved for years. Still had my t-shirts, sweatshirts, pins, stickers, banners, beads, pompoms from the 1980's so they found a nice place front and center. Everything was Black and Gold in this house. I invited all of my family and friends living close by. Half were for the other team and just one other person and myself were cheering on the Saints. The rest were Bucs fans so they were just here to enjoy the game either way.

I remember sitting separated from everyone else in my club chair which I had moved about 10 feet in front of my 65-inch screen. I told my husband that when the game started I was NOT TO BE DISTURBED!  haha….he served drinks and food and I concentrated on the one thing that I had prayed to happen for 30 years. I followed Drew Brees' every move.  The Saints were so great I was hyped up beyond belief. Every time I would scream when they scored or even got a first down, my new German Shepherd puppy would get just as excited and jump all over me. It was just crazy.

At the end of the game I was crying, so full of emotion, I called my three sisters in Louisiana and we were just yelling and screaming with joy. Seeing Drew and his team mates so happy and excited just made me cry more. Mr. Benson, whom I had met at a WHO DAT party in the 80's was so excited and I was happy for him.  Drew holding up his young son was one of the best sights ever!  I don't thing I got any sleep that night, but did it bother me? Not at all!!! That night was a dream come true!