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Aint's no more New Orleans football fans enjoy a year unlike any other
Updated: Friday January 05, 2001 4:28 PM
Hokie Gajan grew up on the New Orleans Saints, cheered for them as a youngster, played for them as a young man in the early '80s, scouted for them for more than a decade afterward. They are as much a part of him as his Baton Rouge birthplace. There were a few good years of Saints football in all those years. A few. But most were filled with losses and fumbling, paper-bagged fans and jokes about the Aint's. Which is what makes this season -- this improbable, beautiful, unbelievable season -- so special to Gajan, and so special to so many in Louisiana. The Saints, incredibly, are winners in the playoffs for the first time in their 34 years in the NFL. And some experts even favor them Saturday in their divisional playoff game in Minnesota against the Vikings. "After what they did last weekend ... I don't know," says Gajan, now one of the Saints' radio broadcasters. "They keep being able to step over another hurdle that is higher every time. You think the well will run dry at some point. But ..." But it hasn't, not yet. The Saints are the story of this NFL season, maybe the story of the last decade. After last season, the Rams are pretty close. But they've had some success in their past. They are not the Saints. The Saints' rise this season is even more unlikely when you realize the skein of bad luck they've had, a streak that would have crippled most teams. If Tiger Woods had faced the bad breaks that the Saints have had this season, he'd be Scott Hoch. If other NFL teams faced what the Saints had to in 2000, they'd be the Bengals. The year started out horribly. After a 3-13 season, owner Tom Benson cleaned out the front office, firing 22 people including general manager Bill Kuharich and head coach Mike Ditka. The team started 1-3. And then the Saints suffered through some injuries so bad and so frequent that no one would have blamed them if they'd just locked up and waited for next season. Tight end Cam Cleeland was injured in training camp, lost for the season. Running back Ricky Williams was hurt in November and hasn't been back. Just a week after Williams was hurt, starting quarterback Jeff Blake was knocked out for the season with a broken foot. Last week, in their win over the Rams in the wild-card round, the Saints' best receiver, Joe Horn, sprained his ankle. He's out for at least this week. Still, the Saints won. Six in a row after that 1-3 start. They finished 10-6, only the sixth time in history they've had a winning season. They beat the Rams last week, thanks to four touchdowns (three passing and one running) from second-year quarterback Aaron Brooks. It's hard to figure how they've done it. Gajan, a fullback who played at Louisiana State before the Saints drafted him in 1981, credits the team's turnaround to new head coach Jim Haslett, the ex-Pittsburgh defensive coordinator. Still, there is something more. No team loses its franchise running back, its starting quarterback, its top receiver, the starting tight end, a projected starter at cornerback ( Steve Israel ), a key linebacker ( Charlie Clemons ) -- just to name a few -- and still comes out as a Super Bowl contender. Certainly, the Saints don't. "They were kind of the loveable losers for so long. Now, they're turning it around," Gajan says. "I couldn't be any happier for a group of guys. It's just been remarkable." The city of New Orleans, of course, is doing a little jig with Gajan and owner Benson. They are riding this as far as it will go. To Minnesota. Maybe to the NFC Championship game. Maybe even farther. Who knows? Whatever happens, it has been a season to remember in New Orleans. "If it does end Saturday," Gajan says wistfully, "this city is still going to be thrilled with them." John Donovan is a senior writer for CNNSI.com. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer. Comments? To e-mail Donovan, click here.
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