SmashMouth

You’re unlikely to hear many Saints fans complaining about their owner these days. Long the laughingstock of the NFL, Benson’s team won its first Super Bowl in 2009-10, and has reached the playoffs in five of the past eight seasons. Outside of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, there isn’t a better coach/quarterback combination than Sean Payton and Drew Brees. But if Super Bowl XLIV and Brees/Payton are Benson’s two miracles, there’s one major stumbling block on his path to canonization. Hurricane Katrina was one of the lowest moments in recent American history. It was New Orleans’ darkest hour, one whose reverberations are still being felt today. What did Benson do in Katrina’s immediate aftermath? Leverage his ravaged hometown for stadium money by threatening to move the team San Antonio. In the history of sad, cynical stadium ploys, Benson’s has to be the most sad and cynical. It’s a black eye on what’s otherwise been a remarkable turnaround. Benson is a Crescent City hero today, but there was once a tomorrow 550 miles to the West. It’s a sin not easily forgiven.

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