For most of the teams in the NFL, the season has come to an end.  There is however a difference from years past.  Instead of fading into the off-season football fans throughout the nation have lent their support to a team that has never gone to a Super Bowl, a team that has gone from no home five years ago to a team making a place for themselves in football history.   They are a team that has seen it all. 

As I talk to football fans from every corner of the country, the love and support for the New Orleans Saints is evident.  Their win against Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings has erased the years and years of pain and disappointment.  

Last year as their season ended it became very apparent that this team was for real and that they would be a force to be reckoned with in the 2009 season.   When it appeared that they might be headed for a perfect regular season record, the Saints stumbled.  They stumbled hard and many were scratching their heads as New Orleans lost the final three games of the season.  Could they pull it together in time for the playoffs?  The chant that permeated the city and the state was “finish strong.”   That is exactly what this team has done as they head for Super Bowl XLIV.  

For some reason despite living out here in California, the Saints playing in their first Super Bowl sounds so right.  They have become America’s team dismissing the team that previously held that title in lieu of the team America loves to hate...  The world loves the New Orleans Saints right now regardless of what will take place in two weeks at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

The funny thing is that there is a multitude of sports enthusiasts that are familiar with Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and that’s where it ends.  They have taken and embraced the entire team whether they know their names, or their positions or where they went to college.  It just doesn’t matter.  Nothing has taken this city by storm in this manner since Katrina with a very different outcome.  The joy and pride that has taken this city to new heights is being celebrated by a nation right now.  It’s a shame that this moment cannot be frozen in time: the moment that Garrett Hartley split the uprights with a 40-yard field goal in overtime for the win and the trip to Miami.