Saints Teach New Orleans to Hope

The Saints’ Super Bowl victory was a transcendent moment for New Orleans, “because since Hurricane Katrina, the Saints are much more than just a football team—they are a civic cause” writes the New Orleans Times-Picayune in an editorial today. “They embodied our resilience and our unity” and gave a region that’s become “a metaphor for despair and tragedy” a reason to hope.

Building an NFL champion is a “gargantuan undertaking,” requiring resources, vision, and luck. For 43 years, the Saints had been unable to get it right, but “those past failures, monumental at times, are forever redeemed by last night’s triumph.” Rebuilding New Orleans, too, is a massive task, “but the Saints success at reinventing themselves shows we can do it.” (More New Orleans Saints stories.)