Thousands of Black and Gold fans welcome Saints home at airport
 

As a plane carrying the New Orleans Saints touched down at Louis Armstrong International airport 11:00pm Sunday night, a solid phalanx of fans lined the road connecting the team's terminal with Veteran's Boulevard.

After the 6-0 Saints overcame a three-touchdown deficit to beat Miami on the road, many fans lined up early along Bainbridge Street to cheer, applaud, and high-five the returning heroes.

A smiling Saints linebacker Johnathan Vilma didn't seemed fazed that the crush of fans slowed his exit from the aiport to a crawl.

"Love it, love the support... just to come back to this, the environment, this is great," Vilma said.

Quarterback Drew Brees, gracefully handling hundreds of fans who swarmed outside his vehicle's window seeking a moment of his time, echoed that sentiment.

"I think it's unbelievalbe," Brees said of the Sunday night crowd welcoming them home. "We've got the best fans in the world..no doubt about it."

Re: Thousands of Black and Gold fans welcome Saints home at airport
 

Payton was interviewed at halftime on Monday night and he said he thought that there were 5000 fans there. If I lived in N.O. I would probably have been there.