NEW ORLEANS, LA — On a September Sunday 39 years ago, John Gilliam returned a kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown on the first play in New Orleans Saints history.

It is hard to believe, nearly four decades later, that a franchise floundering in futility was born on such a positive note. Although I was not alive to see it, I suppose moments after that scoring run is when the suffering began. The Saints lost that day, as they have the majority of the Sundays since then.

It could be accurately stated that over the years, Saints' fans have been irrational in their support of their football team. For 40 years, during the majority of which New Orleans has lost more than it has won, the crowds have not stopped cheering and the music has never failed to continue playing. Hope for a better day, unlike tap-dancing running backs and porous secondaries, has not failed Saints fans.

Recent Sundays have been more dire than usual in New Orleans , as they have been across South Mississippi since Hurricane Katrina hit. Many have been amazed at Mississippi 's resiliency, but the news out of New Orleans has not been as positive.

In Mississippi , it seems on alternating days we are both proud of our Hattiesburg and Gulf Coast friends but sad for our neighbors in New Orleans . For those of us who have close ties to both areas, those feelings sometimes come in alternating moments.

Today I am proud to call myself a Mississippian, but my roots in New Orleans and with its football team grew strong for some two decades as I grew up in the Crescent City .

One of my earliest memories is meeting Archie Manning and as late as my years as a Southern Miss student I left Hattiesburg on Sundays at 5:30 a.m. to travel to New Orleans to work selling programs at Saints' games. While the pay was not noteworthy, its primary perk was an open nose-bleed seat from which I could enjoy the game for the final three quarters.

Like Red Sox or Cubs fans, Saints fans have found their love affair with their team has been bittersweet at best - like an old flame who offers nothing but heartache but nevertheless you still cannot shake from your thoughts.

At times I have found myself vowing never to return to the Superdome or waste time on a Sunday absorbing another beating. Still other times I have been known to jump from my seat in unbridled joy or cry almost uncontrollably - sometimes after the same play.

True story: After little known and rarely used running back Brian Milne recovered a St. Louis Rams fumble to clinch the Saints' one and only playoff win, I both cried and laughed. The crying I surmised was the result of a feeling of relief following years of watching my beloved Saints lose so often. The laughing I am certain was the realization of the absurdity that I was crying at a football game.

Kicked by Katrina, my city is still struggling to recover. Like it did to so many, the storm wiped clean my childhood neighborhood, from the football field where I played my pee-wee games to the house I called home until I left for Hattiesburg .

The city's recovery has been marked by a series of events - for instance the return of Jazz Fest and the celebration of Mardi Gras.

Ask most New Orleanians, however, and they'll tell you that the Saints' return to the Superdome tonight is special. They will also tell you that there is something about when our loveable losers come marching in; that there is something about the team and the city that allows us to believe this could be the year, although our history suggests otherwise.

But would it not be wonderful if this actually were the year?

Call it foolish hope, and I will not argue. Understand, however, that hope is part of our nature. In my delusional fantasy, Reggie Bush will return a kick tonight for a long touchdown, just as John Gilliam did 40 years ago. I cannot dream of a better rebirth for the city.

And this time, rather than suffering a resounding defeat, I hope my Saints will come out winners. And this time, I hope my city will not end up broken in spirit as it was in the days after Katrina.

This time, I hope that years from now my New Orleans will once again emerge as a true American treasure.


This article first appeared in the Hattiesburg American on Sept. 25, 2006.

Jim Coll is an Assistant Director for Communications of Southern Miss Alumni Association and a doctoral student in mass communication in the School of Mass Communication and Journalism. The After Katrina Newswire is a project of the School of Mass Communication and Journalism at USM (www.usm.edu/afterkatrina). This story can be reprinted with this credit included.