Saints Get Ready to Celebrate a Monumental Event, One They Will Never Forget

It’s been 20 years since New Orleans returned to the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina ravaged it, signaling to America that this beloved party town was back.

Steve Gleason celebrates after his historic punt block in the Saints' emotional return to the Superdome on Sept. 25, 2006, after Hurricane Katrina. | Bob Rosato/Sports Illustrated

The specifics are now foggy for Saints GM Mickey Loomis, mostly because the night wasn’t really the first time he felt the magnitude of Hurricane Katrina to the city.

In the hours before, during and after what became a spiritual New Orleanian revival, he was already in his seventh year with the team, his fifth as general manager, and had lived in a downtown condo through the monumental storm in late August 2005. But he remembers walking to the Superdome three or four hours before the team’s Week 3 Monday night game against Atlanta would kick off, an hour or two earlier than he normally would.

“I just wanted to get down there and walk through the dome and see people coming in,” he said. “Here’s what I remember: I remember a lot of people being very emotional as they were going to and entering the Superdome. That’s what I think was different. And the other thing is when you have a game at home, regardless of where you’re at, there are several visiting team fans, particularly when it’s Atlanta here. New Orleans, same thing. When we go there, a large contingent of our fans.

“And I just don’t remember seeing anybody with Falcons gear. And I’m sure they were there, but it was overwhelming Saints. And they’re all wearing jerseys. They’re all wearing something Saints. And look, they do that every game. But it’s like everyone.”

What was ahead on Sept. 25, 2006, was a night that no Louisianan would ever forget.

It’s been 20 years, and what’s remained indelible is that in a city that’s known for voodoo connected to Catholicism, something cosmic happened in that dome that night.

The crowd. The blocked punt. The quarterback and the coach. All of it combined to create an event that signaled to America that this beloved party town was back—again capable of throwing the kind of bash that every local felt connected to, even if they didn’t have a seat in the stadium for those three hours. It also marked the beginning of a rebirth of a franchise that had laid dormant for most of the decade and a half prior.

Loomis is 69 now, in his 27th season with the franchise.

He has perspective better than anyone on all of it.

And he’ll tell you, as these two teams prepare to rematch on Monday night for essentially a 20th anniversary commemoration, he’ll never witness anything like it again.

’I’m glad I went through it’

To explain the magnitude of what was on the Saints’ shoulders that weekend, Loomis splits the people he worked with then into two groups—those that were held over from the year before, and those who came in with new coach Sean Payton in 2006.

Those who’d been there the year before had spent most of the 2005 season in San Antonio, where owner Tom Benson had roots. Katrina ravaged Louisiana less than two weeks before the team’s opener at Carolina. The team’s first “home” game, against the Giants, was in New Jersey, and the rest were split between Baton Rouge and San Antonio. And those who were there saw things you can’t unsee.

But there were silver linings, stories Loomis remembers that he can smile about. Like when a few players met a couple at a refugee camp in San Antonio who had lost an engagement ring in the storm, and decided to surprise the couple by buying them a new one. Or when they found their longtime grounds superintendent Lester Vallet Sr., whose son was working for the team and on site, in a camp at an Air Force Base they were visiting.

“I wouldn’t wish going through that on anyone,” Loomis said. “And yet I’m glad I went through it because, look, I think all of us that went through it, thinking about the other side, came out for the better. You learned adversity, and we found out who the stars were in our organization. I’m not just talking about players or coaches. I’m talking about people who worked on the business side and some scouts and people that ended up being really instrumental over the next five, 10 years.

“Terry Fontenot and Ryan Pace, who ended up being GMs in our league, those guys were young scouting assistants at the time. But they were stellar when we were over in San Antonio, so there are some things that you find out.”

So there were those guys, like Deuce McAlister, Will Smith and Charles Grant, and, yes, Steve Gleason. And then there were those like Payton and Drew Brees, seeing the aftermath.

Loomis says he admired the second group because they chose to be there.

And yet, until they lived it, they couldn’t possibly know what they’d signed up for. They’d find out in the spring, before leaving for Jackson, Miss., for training camp, with the team’s two home preseason games set to be held in Jackson and Shreveport, La., with the dome still not yet functional enough to host events.

“They quickly realized they’re not just playing football for themselves. They’re playing it for a lot of people,” Loomis said. “And I think that resonated, I know it did, with the Scott Fujita and Drew and Reggie [Bush], who originally didn’t want to get drafted by the Saints, but man, when he showed up that first night after the draft with the reception that he got from people who were just grateful that he was with us, he jumped in with both feet

“There was a lot of that.”

Saints fans celebrated the return of the team to the Superdome on Sept. 25, 2006. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

’It was just really amazing’

Perhaps the most underrated part of the night is that the dome was open at all.

One of the most illustrative images of the impact of the storm: Portions of the Superdome were quite literally ripped off by the velocity of its winds. In the weeks and months after, the stadium was converted into a shelter for those displaced. And when Loomis and a small crew of Saints brass were taken through the dome by the venue’s manager, Doug Thornton, that February, the New Orleans GM was incredulous at Thornton’s claim that they could have the place up and running by September.

“I just thought there’s no f---ing way,” he said. “I mean, all the systems that needed repair, I didn’t think there was any possible way. And, look, I’m a glass-half-full-guy at all times. And I didn’t see it happening. But man, Doug … Doug was convinced that it was going to happen. He got the resources necessary. And the local and state officials, government officials, they did a lot of stuff to make it happen, given the resources to make it happen.”

And somehow, by September, Loomis continued, “There were still tarps on roofs in the city, a lot of tarps on the roofs, and the dome is ready to go. It was just really amazing.”

Which is why, when Payton brought the players to the Superdome for the day-before-the-game walkthrough, he had Thornton address the team. The coach first played a video about the storm on the stadium’s big screens for the players, and then played the Monday Night Football theme, before introducing the man who captained the massive repair project.

Thornton, who retired earlier this year, told the players how important it was to everyone in New Orleans that the Saints were back, and what a special night was ahead—“But it’s only special,” he said, “if you win.”

“I mean, all the systems that needed repair, I didn’t think there was any possible way. And, look, I’m a glass-half-full-guy at all times. And I didn’t see it happening.”

Saints GM Mickey Loomis

Coming in at 2–0, after close wins in Green Bay and Cleveland, New Orleans was already emerging as one of the season’s feel-good stories. Yet, by the estimation of those there, was still figuring out the kind of team it would be in Payton’s new program.

The night they’d find out was coming, and there was tension to match.

Brees even got lost in the stadium traffic—it was his first home game of any kind—and needed a police officer to guide him. So the quarterback arrived late and the team, for obvious reasons, was a little on edge.

“There was a tension and a quietness in the locker room pregame and a lot of resolve,” Loomis said. “And the guys that had been on the team in prior years, they’d gone through Katrina, and their level of emotion was way higher than everyone else’s, whether that’s Deuce or Charles Grant or Will Smith. And some guys that have been through that whole adversity, their emotions take them up three notches because they’re feeling everything that our fans are feeling, plus what you’re feeling as a player.”

If they were feeling the magnitude of it, that was appropriate.

Even if no one could’ve possibly known how big what was about to happen would become.

A Saints fan takes photos at the statue outside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome commemorating Steve Gleason's punt block during the first Saints game played after Hurricane Katrina. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

’He embraced New Orleans’

Randy Mueller brought Loomis to New Orleans in 2000 when Mueller became the team’s GM, and having come from Seattle, both were very familiar with Gleason—who was from Spokane and a Washington State alum—ahead of that April’s draft. So when the Colts cut the undrafted free agent out of camp, the Saints plucked him for their practice squad.

Over the next six years, he carved out a role as a key special-teamer and unique locker room personality for the team. Adventurous and curious, Gleason climbed mountains in Nepal in the offseason and once asked Loomis if he could literally parachute in to deliver the football for the team’s well-attended annual scrimmage at camp when it was at Nichols State (the GM told him he couldn’t be responsible for that happening).

And he loved New Orleans.

“Man, as much as any player we’ve ever had, he embraced New Orleans,” Loomis said. “And he became part of the fabric of the city, the culture of the city, married a New Orleans girl, from a longtime New Orleans family. And he’s a very eclectic guy.”

That made him a perfect fit for the city, and the big moment was coming.

Payton didn’t know who Gleason was before arriving in New Orleans—“Hey, is this one of your pet cats?” he used to jokingly ask Loomis. But quickly, the coach recognized what Gleason could add to his team and program. So the punt-block scheme that special teams coach John Bonamego had installed for the week was set up to spring Gleason loose.

On the play before, the game’s first third down, Fujita, the team’s new star linebacker who came from Dallas with Payton, tracked down Falcons star Mike Vick, rolling to his left, and slapped the ball loose. Two Saints had a shot at it, and may have scored had they been able to scoop it up. Instead, it took a couple of funny bounces and dribbled out of bounds.

“Man, as much as any player we’ve ever had, he embraced New Orleans. And he became part of the fabric of the city, the culture of the city, married a New Orleans girl, from a longtime New Orleans family. And he’s a very eclectic guy.”

Loomis on Gleason

“I just remember sitting up there; we’re all kind of pissed and upset that we didn’t get the fumble,” Loomis said. “So we’re not even really paying a lot of attention to the next play, because we’re still kind of like, Man, we just blew a golden opportunity to change this game.”

Another one was coming.

On fourth-and-10, at the snap, reserve running back Aaron Stecker burst into the A gap, occupying the right guard and snapper. Gleason looped to his left, around Stecker, and came completely free, getting to punter Michael Koenen so fast it looked like he blocked the kick with both forearms. The ball bounced 18 yards back, and Curtis Deloatch, claimed by the Saints off waivers three weeks earlier, jumped on it at the 1 and rolled into the end zone.

“Touchdown, New Orleans!” ESPN play-by-play man Mike Tirico yelled, sensing the moment, then laid out and let the crowd carry the broadcast for a full 37 seconds.

As the noise engulfed the moment, shots of the crowd showed the sea of black and gold.

“When you watch the play, you can see it developing, and you see it happening before it happens,” Loomis said. “And just the noise, the cheers; it is just unbelievable. And that’s what it’s all about. I think the crowd there, it’s one of the few times I’ve ever felt like the team and the crowd were just one—like everybody was on the team. Everybody in the stands was part of the team. That’s what that game felt like.”

Saints wide receiver Devery Henderson scored on a reverse in the team's return to the Superdome on Sept. 25, 2006 | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

‘Nobody wanted to go home’

The next most memorable play for Loomis in that game was the next touchdown, when Payton called a reverse to Devery Henderson on first-and-10 from the Falcons’ 11—because it encapsulated the aggression with which the new coach was leading. “One of the things I loved about Sean from early on was that he was always trying to win the game,” Loomis said. “He was never trying not to lose it.”

In that spot, some coaches would worry about getting dropped for a loss in the tight quarters of the red zone. Payton didn’t. Even Brees threw a block.

That made it 14–3.

The party was on. The Saints won 23–3. No one wanted the night to end.

“That was true for the whole city,” Loomis said. “My recollection is when I came out of the stadium, and usually that’s a good hour to an hour and a half after the game’s over, it was like, nobody was leaving. They were out in the streets and nobody wanted to go home. It was like after a playoff game, when we’d have a home playoff game, and everyone wants to go out and keep celebrating because nobody’s going to sleep.”

Somewhat predictably, the Saints lost the next week, but Payton’s program was on its way.

The franchise had made the playoffs once in the 13 years before, and won just one playoff game in its 39-year history. Those 2006 Saints went 10–6, won the NFC South and reached a conference title game for the first time in franchise history. And that was just the beginning. Payton would capture seven division titles, make the playoffs nine times, field top-six offenses in each of his first 12 seasons and win Super Bowl XLIV.

Brees would become the greatest player in franchise history and a Hall of Famer. The rookie class that took the field that night—with Bush, Roman Harper, Jahri Evans, Zach Strief and Marques Colston the headlines—wound up serving as the foundation of the title team of three years later. Others, such as Fujita, Smith, Grant and Henderson were still around to raise the Lombardi Trophy in February 2010 as well.

Payton, meanwhile, had real proof of concept coming out of that night. For all the spiritual forces that seemed to be at work, the football stuff worked, too, and, per Loomis, the win over the Falcons made everything feel more real than the previous two wins had.

“That team overachieved number one based upon a lot of things,” the GM said. “The talent level, the fact that we got new schemes, new coaches, new programs, new culture, all that being put in place. So going 10–6 and getting to the NFC championship game was, I hate using the word overachieving, but that’s probably the right word. But what it does do is validate this coach and our program; it validates, Hey, these guys know what they’re doing.

“And so let’s just stay the course.”

The Saints did, just as their city had.

Former Saints owner Tom Benson celebrated after the Saints defeated the Falcons 23-3 in their return to the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans on Sept. 25, 2006.. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

‘I wouldn’t trade any game for that game’

Twenty years later, stories from that night come up less than they used to and, for Loomis, that’s helped him to appreciate it even more.

It used to be a conversation point more, he said, “to the point where you’d kind of get tired of it, really.” But now, with time passed and perspective gained, there’s an appreciation for the cool stories that pop up randomly, or get retold—like the one on the Valleys or of the couple at the refugee camp.

Mostly, now, Loomis remembers the people of Monday, Sept. 25.

He remembers late Saints owner Tom Benson bending over backward to make everyone comfortable in San Antonio in 2005, paying for housing for five months for displaced folks who worked for the team. He remembers how cathartic it was for guys like the late Smith and Gleason, who’d adopted the city as a second home and went through the storm like any other New Orleanian. He remembers the impact it had on new guys like Payton and Brees.

He remembers those who were there for the night and took it in, like Tirico, who’ll be at the Superdome Monday night for the festivities. He remembers the streets, as America’s preeminent party city reveled in Gleason’s play and the Saints’ win until the sun came up.

He thinks of Gleason, who’s lived with ALS for a decade and a half now, especially as such an illustration of strength, on a night when a region showed so much of that.

And he knows, deep down, he’ll never see anything like it again.

“I’ve said plenty of times … I think other guys have said this, too—I wouldn’t trade any game for that game,” Loomis says. “I wouldn’t trade the Super Bowl for that game. That game’s number one on my list. And, obviously, winning the Super Bowl is a big deal, but I felt the gravity of that game a lot more than winning a Super Bowl.”

Fair to say, the 70,003 fans there that night, and millions of other fans from Louisiana would concur.

And tonight, so many of them will get to celebrate what it meant one more time.

---