exiled

The city of New Orleans, Louisiana was awarded an NFL franchise on November 1, 1966, thanks to a combination of local activism (most notably by David Dixon and by members of the local media, such as New Orleans States-Item sports editor Crozet Duplantier) and political force (Senator Russell Long and Congressman Hale Boggs, who made approval of the NFL-AFL merger conditional on the awarding of a franchise to New Orleans).

In December, oilman John W. Mecom, Jr. became the majority shareholder and thus president of the team; later that month, Tom Fears was named head coach. The team was named "Saints" due to its birthday on the Roman Catholic Church's All Saints Day -- a fitting nickname for a team in the largely Catholic New Orleans area. The team's original stadium was Tulane Stadium, which could seat more than 80,000 fans. The team was placed in the Capitol Division of the NFL's Eastern Conference; their division foes were the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, and Washington Redskins.

"it is from the lost, your culture has always been found." - chandler (9th ward new orleans #2)