The New Orleans Saints paid tribute to rock and roll pioneer Fats Domino with a FATS decal on the back of their helmets during Sunday's game vs. the Chicago Bears at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Domino, a lifelong New Orleanian who was credited with helping found rock and roll music, died last week at age 89 after a long illness.
Saints Coach Sean Payton had musical notes and FATS written on his pullover and some of Domino's hits were played during breaks in the action Sunday.
"We did a little piece on him this week with our players," Payton said at his postgame press conference. "He's someone whose contributions to music were, I think, underrated. When you go back and you do all the information on him, this is a guy the Beatles opened up for in Liverpool. This is a guy that Elvis Presley felt uncomfortable being called "the King" because of. Many would argue he was the father of rock and roll and here he was one of our own. I just felt like his life was not celebrated enough when he passed. We did a little story about his accomplishments. All week long, when we were watching film as an offensive staff, we had Fats Domino music on. He's obviously an icon."
