The NFL season is finished. So, what’s next? 2006 will loom over Louisiana sports fans as a giant fleur-de-lis morphed into a question mark. The Saints will be back in Baton Rouge and New Orleans for this season. There's even talk of a pre-season game in Shreveport. After that, who knows? The team’s owner, Tom Benson, certainly hasn’t made any friends since the start of the last season. The NFL’s commissioner, Paul Tagliabue, has forced the issue by compelling Benson to keep his team based in south Louisiana.
The Saints are bigger than Benson; and if he doesn’t want to be a part of Louisiana anymore, he should disassociate himself with the team. Sell it, make his money, get out and never come back. He doesn’t like us. We don’t like him. Fine. Let him move to San Antonio or somewhere even farther away, as long as he leaves the football team behind and doesn’t bother us anymore.
An argument can be made that his sordid affair with San Antonio (he wants to move the team permanently after playing a handful of games there in 2005) was strictly business. It’s easy to come to the conclusion that he was thinking seriously of moving the team long before it was displaced by Hurricane Katrina; but we cannot, and he should not, ignore how that unspeakable disaster changed everything.
This state must recover economically, physically, ecologically, and emotionally. We are struggling to rebuild our largest city, our coastline and our reputation. If a franchise in the most successful professional sports league in America abandons us, we risk becoming a metaphor for failure.
Conversely, if we show up for the Saints despite their owner, we can build a reputation for resiliency. When the football season starts, the national and international media will be visiting New Orleans for “one year later” stories. We can’t know, and in large measure can’t control, how far along the recovery effort will have come by then. We can show the world that we may be bloodied, but not beaten.
The Superdome, which became a symbol for despair in the days following Katrina, could be ground zero for the hope of recovery and revitalization. The economic impact of being home to an NFL franchise is measurable and profound. The spiritual repercussions of losing it under these circumstances would be incalculable.
Benson has pledged that the Saints will be a leader in rebuilding New Orleans and the gulf coast. The team will play games in Tiger Stadium until the Superdome is ready.
A lot of people who love the team have developed a dyspeptic disdain for the owner. They may be reluctant to buy tickets for fear of putting more money into his pockets. It’s important to remember, however, that it’s our reputation that needs to be rehabilitated. He can worry about his own, if he so chooses. Chances are, he won’t. He has demonstrated that many times over with his inexcusable antics following the hurricane.
The Saints’ return to the Superdome will be a major media event. The message that New Orleans and the whole state of Louisiana are rising from the ruins will be amplified across the globe. This story transcends sports and multimillion dollar salaries. It’s about getting better. We must take control of the message and not let one man, who just doesn’t get it, wreck it for the rest of us.

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