Calling audibles is a part of football. Throughout this entire week, New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis have been forced to call a number of them.
When news broke that Hurricane Gustav was going to hit New Orleans harder than any middle linebacker, Payton and Loomis made plans to relocate the team to Indianapolis, Ind. for the duration of the storm. When players sat in front of Payton and asked permission to drive their families to a safe location instead of going on the team plane to Indianapolis, there wasn’t a moment’s hesitation in the coach’s affirmative response. Before Payton could draw up Xs and Os for Sunday’s opener against the Buccaneers, he had to consider and address how the hurricane had affected each individual player. And when thinking about how he should deal with the whirlwind of reporters, he decided to keep his team as sheltered as possible.
Now that the dust has settled, the rain has slowed and the damage is accounted for, Loomis, Payton and Saints owner Tom Benson, along with city officials and members of the NFL were faced with the decision of whether to play New Orleans’ originally scheduled home game at the Superdome this Sunday. Despite the opinion of some who wanted the team to stay relocated for the first game, they made the decision Tuesday to go ahead with the home opener in New Orleans as originally planned.
Because the arena is structurally sound and it is logistically feasible to staff the game, this decision was a no-brainer. Forget playing at the Superdome because of the “home field advantage.” Forget bringing the game back to New Orleans to make money. There is only one good reason for playing the home opener at the Superdome and that belongs to every single Saints fan and other person affected by the hurricane.
If there’s a moment when the meaning of a football team to its home city is realized, this is it. This is supposed to be when those who were forced to evacuate turn on the television and see that the first people back to New Orleans are the Saints. This Sunday will be when those whose houses were damaged can grasp some degree of normalcy by watching their city get slowly brought back to life.
Playing in New Orleans Sunday has nothing to do with ignoring the devastation. It has to do with lifting spirits and reviving a wounded city.
If anything, the Saints’ ownership owes it to the fans. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, rumors that Benson would permanently relocate the team spread across the city.
When the Saints were playing their home games in San Antonio during the 2005 season, it was reported that city officials were in negotiations with Benson to bring the Saints there for good. Plans for where the team would play in San Antonio were even in the works. Instead of promising that the Saints would go marching back in, Benson seemed ready to have them march out.
To resuscitate those rumors in the wake of Gustav would have been a slap in the face to everyone in and around The Crescent City. Not only will a quick return home dispel any of that chatter, it will also reaffirm strength in the city and commitment to its revival.
In all likelihood, not too many people who were affected by the hurricane will really care what the scoreboard reads. Or how many interceptions Drew Brees throws. Or if Reggie Bush breaks 100 yards rushing. What they will care about is that their Saints are back in town. And what they will come to realize is that the character of their city is reflected in the character of their home team.
Payton, Loomis, Benson and the rest of the Saints’ ownership have had to make decisions on the fly this week. They have dealt with the relocation, the media and the preparation for the game. They’ve weathered the storm, so to speak. And when it came time to choose where to play Sunday’s game, the best decision they made was the audible they didn’t call.
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