Super Bowl win evokes Saints’ fever

A day removed from the team’s first-ever Super Bowl title, reality had still not fully sunk in yet for Houma native and lifelong Saints fan Kenneth Breaux.

“I’m 58-years-old and I never thought I’d see this day,” Breaux said. “When [Tracy Porter] was taking that interception to the end-zone, I broke down crying. It’s just awesome.”

Breaux was one of a countless number of Saints fans in the Tri-parish area reliving every moment of Sunday’s game and embracing the team’s win.

“We’ve lost for so many years,” said Houma native Schira Ott. “But one thing you can say no matter what is that our people here love our Saints.”

Chauvin native Francis Toups Sr. said he’s loyally watched the Saints throughout the good and bad times the team has had in the franchise’s history.

Toups said he was overjoyed when the final seconds of the clock ticked down and the team was officially the kings of the NFL.

“I’ve been watching them since 1968,” he said. “It’s about time they did it … I think they really pulled through and did a pretty special thing for everyone by winning it.”

Toups said early in the season, he sensed something was different about this year’s team.

“When they brought in Drew Brees and those other guys who hadn’t been with the Saints, I knew it was coming,” he said. “This team just looked like they had more heart. They weren’t just doing it for them. They were doing it for Louisiana.”

Breaux, Ott and Toups were three among hundreds who packed the halls of Houma’s Academy Sports and Outdoors location on Monday afternoon.

With the store out of adult-sized shirts early Monday morning, fans made a line that stretched all around the store waiting for the next truck to arrive with Super Bowl gear.

“We’ve been here since 8 this morning,” said Houma native Amy Porche. “We wanted to be the first ones to get our Saints gear.”

Those in line went into frenzy when the trucks arrived, sending the crowd to cheers of “Who Dat” and “Black and Gold Super Bowl.”

Houma native Rita Bernard went to the store with her son Timothy Bernard. They said the victory was sweet because of the lack of respect the team had gotten throughout the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl.

“I was reading these articles in the papers here about Peyton Manning, saying how great he is,” said Rita Bernard. “So I was upset, because no one was talking about Drew Brees or the Saints or how good we were. I guess we showed them how good we were.”

Timothy Bernard agreed with his mother and said the team’s run was nothing short of magic.

“It was destiny,” he said. “There’s no doubt about it.”

Academy store director Chris Guidry thanked those who turned out and said the event was a success, despite the Monday morning shortage of items.

“This has been crazy and we’re just excited to be able to do this for the fans, because they deserve this moment,” he said. “Everything has been selling.”

One item in demand that was not on the Monday afternoon truck was championship hats, but Guidry said those would arrive throughout the week, among other items.

“What we mostly have right now is the gear the team wore after the game,” Guidry said. “But throughout the week, we’re going to have plenty of other things. We’re going to have shirts with the rosters on the back. Super Bowl ring T-shirts, some women’s locker room T’s … We’re getting all of the new stuff as the week goes by and we’ll keep them all well-stocked.”

Guidry also praised the effort of the store’s workers, who worked long hours to keep everything in order.

The store director said the store was using nearly all of its employees to keep everyone moving through the store as quickly as possible.

“You have to have a plan with this,” Guidry said. “And we’ve done our best to keep everyone happy. Our staff has been tremendous with doing their part to be here to keep everyone moving.”

Saints fans Danielle Arceneaux (right), Dannie Arceneaux (center) and Katie Boudreaux (left) react to the announcement that Saints merchandise had arrived at Academy Sports and Outdoors in Houma. * Photo by MICHAEL DAVIS