- 25/02/2013
- Posted by: essay
- Category: Free essays
It would be fair to maintain that the logo and uniforms of the Saints undergone minimal modifications since the year of the debuting of the club in 1967. The logo of the team is fleur-de-lis which symbolizes both the City of New Orleans and Bourbon Monarchy of France. The uniform of the team comprises gold helmets, gold pants and black or white jerseys.
During the time period between 1967 and 1974 the Saints mostly wore white when playing at Tulane Stadium in order to make their opponents were dark colors which hardly could be beneficial in the subtropical climate of the city. It is considered that this strategy helped much in the 1971 season opener against the Los Angeles Rams. Then Saints claimed their first-ever victory over the NFC West rivals, 24-20, on Mannings 1-yard quarterback sneak on the last play of the game.
In 1975, the year when the team moved from Tulane Stadium to Superdome, the Saints wore white pants. In a year or so they combined black pants with white jerseys according to their couch Hank Stram intention. Nevertheless in 1976 after losing their home game to Houston Oilers the uniform of the team reverted to the black jerseys and white pants again.
In the period between 1986 and 1995 a logo with a fleur-de-lis inside an outline of the state of Louisiana was recognized on the sleeves of the jerseys and sides of the pants.
From 1996 to 1998 gold the Saints had gold numbers on both the white and black jerseys. Nevertheless the numbers soon became black in 1999, as the gold ones were difficult to read in the black background.
In 2000 the Saints wore their white jerseys which helped them to win their first play-off game over the Rams.
In 2001 the color of the team’s jerseys was primarily white with either black or white pants. Therefore the Saints became the first NFL team with totally black uniforms .
In 2002 the uniform of the team consisted of the black pants with white jerseys, and gold pants with black jerseys. In the game against Minnesota Vikings the Saints also introduced a gold alternative jersey, but because of the loss in that game the alternative jerseys were never worn once more .
In 2006 the team wore similar to 1980’s uniforms with an outline of the State of Louisiana to mark their return there.
During the first three home games of 2009 the saints wore the white jerseys. The team worn totally black combo the last two home games. Although they put the gold pants on for their run through the 2009 playoffs.
The Most Significant Awards
In 1978 QB of the team Archie Manning gained: the NFC most Valuable Player (UPI, Sporting News); the NFC Player of the Year (UPI, Sporting News) and the NFC Offensive MVP(UPI) .
In 1981 RB George Rogers achieved the Rookie of the Year (Pro Football Weekly/PFWA); Offensive Rookie of the Year (AP, Pro Football Weekly) and the NFC Rookie of the Year (UPI) .
In 1987 Jim Finks – the general manager of the team was awarded the NFL Executive of the Year (Sporting News). Moreover this year the coach of the team Jim Mora received the Coach of the Year (AP, sporting News) and the NFC Coach of the Year (UPI).
The year of 1991 brought the Defensive Player of the Year to LB Pat Swilling.
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In 2000 DT La’Roi Glover got the Defensive Lineman of the Year (NFL Alumni) and the Defensive Player of the Year (Committee of 101 – Kansas City) . The head coach of the team Jim Haslet was awarded the Coach of the Year (AP, Pro Football Weekly/PFWA, Sports Illustrated, Football News, and NFL Alumni). DE Joe Johnson got the Comeback Player of the Year (AP, Pro Football Weekly/ PFWA). The general manager Randy Mueller was awarded the NFL Executive of the Year (Sporting News, Pro Football Weekly/ PFWA, Football Digest, The Sports Network)
In 2006 the executive vice president of the team Mickey Loomis was awarded the NFL Executive of the Year( Sporting News, Pro Football Weekly/Pro Football Writers of America) and the head coach of the team Sean Payton got the NFL Coach of the Year( AP, sporting News, Pro Football Weekly, Sports Illustrated, Maxwell club) .
The famous quarterback of the team Drew Brees gained the Co-NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year and the NFL most Valuable Player in 2007 and the NFL Offensive Player of the Year (AP, Sporting News) in 2008 .
.Wonderful Saints Players
It is very interesting and even thrilling to look back at the players of the New Orleans Saints who somehow managed to make the unique history of this team – strong, powerful, hoping and struggling. Archie Manning – the “good” quarterback on a “bad” team who though never managed to record a winning record, was able to manage two pro bowl appearances and gain several awards; Danny Abramovicz who played 111 games through his career and had 369 catches for 5,686 yards and 39 touchdowns; Joe Horn who enjoyed incredible success making four pro bowls in six seasons and who is the Saints franchise leader in several categories; Morten Andersen – the Saints’ all time leading scorer and the holder of a slew of NFL records; and Michael Lewis – who enjoyed his best season in 2002 when he led the NFL in combined kick-punt return yardage with 2,432 yards (1, 807 kickoff, 625 punt)
The Hall of Fame
The New Orleans Saint Hall of Fame is nothing else but a non-profit organization meant to preserve, promote and present the history of the team as it is. It is located at 415 Williams Boulevard in the Rivertown. In the Hall of fame it is possible to find exhibits and other opportunities concerning the development of long and fascinating history of he Saints from the first steps of its foundation till present glorious days. The Hurricane Kathrina caused certain damages to the hall of fame, that’s why it’s presently located at Gate B in New Orleans Superdome. It can be visited for free at every Saints home game. There are a lot of interesting facilities for fans: they can view videotapes on the history of the team and participate in the interactive exhibits throughout the Hall. There busts and painting of each of the inductees and the information about their careers. New Orleans and Green Bay are the only two NFL franchises with a team Hall of Fame facilities.
The Saints Today
Nowadays the New Orleans Saints is a prominent and very powerful team. It goes without saying that its success directly depends on the potential of the people who lead it.
Presently the head coach of the team is Sean Payton – the most successful coach in the franchise history. He led the Saints to their victory over the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV.
One of the most prominent players of the team is Drew Brees. He is known for having a career year every season. This great player has already passed for over 4,100 yards and 33 touchdowns. He is averaging over 30 touchdown passes a season with the Saints and even makes them think of a Super Bowl.
Another star of the team is Deuce McAllister. During his eight seasons in the team he rushed for 6,096 yards and tacked on 1,720 yards receiving. This man earned two Pro Bowl selections and scored totally 54 touchdowns.
Joe Horn is very important player too. He complied over 7,500 yards receiving 50 touchdowns in seven seasons with the team.
Presently there are two biggest fan favorites. They are Robert Meacham and Jeremy Shockey.
The New Orleans Saints is a very active team in the community. They help children and are engaged in other spheres of charity. For example, the Brees Dream Foundation’s main purpose it helping cancer patient in every way. Moreover Deuce McAllister’s Catch 22 Foundation deals with under-privileged youth in the Gulf South. The coach of the team Sean Payton founded the Pay It Forward Foundation.
The New Orleans Saints is a team with rich history of glories and losses, of disappointments and bright moments of victories. There are a lot of people who took part in the development of this team, who put efforts to make it more powerful and better. This professional football franchise was founded in 1966. First it was owned by John Mecom; presently the owner of the team is Tom Benson, a New Orleans businessman. The earliest steps of the team during the 1966-70 were unconfident and frequently undergone losses. The 1970s brought a ray of light to the team with the all-time favorite player Archie Manning. The years of 1981-85 may be distinguished as uneven and confusing, but the period between 1990 and 2000 encouraged the players and the fans of the team with new awards and sparks of success. Since those times the Saints have been gaining more popularity and more awards. The year of 2009 may be considered as the most successful in the history of franchise. Nowadays the New Orleans Saints are bright and very ambitious. In 2009 they won the City of New Orleans its first league championship at Super Bowl XLIV. There are a lot of prominent players in it and a head coach Sean Payton is really a person who is able to lead the team to further winnings. There is a Hall of Fame of New Orleans Saints, he main purpose of which to preserve, promote and cherish the history of the franchise, which is free for visiting. It’s worth noting that the Saints is active in community and multiple foundations initiated by the members of it help people of different backgrounds in solving of their problems.
References
Mack, Wayne, “The Saga of the Saints, 1967-1991: An Illustrated History of the First 25 Seasons”, New Orleans: Arthur Hardy Enterprises, 1992.
Serpas, Christian, “The New Orleans Saints: 25 Years of Heroic Effort”, Book 1, Lafayette, La.: Acadian House, 1991.
Serpas, Christian, The New Orleans Saints: 25 Years of Heroic Effort, Book 2, Lafayette, La.: Acadian House, 1992.
The Official Site of the New Orleans Saints
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