Why We Will Cheer for the Saints: A Dirty Bird's Take On a Who Dat Superbowl

At the beginning of the fall I was certain that my Atlanta Falcons would represent the NFC in the 2010 Super Bowl.

After the Falcons' 4-1 start I was even more certain. Then they went 5-6, finishing the season off at 9-7. Although the back-to-back winning seasons was a breakthrough, many Falcons fans feel 2009 got left in the closet, and can only hope 2010 will bring them more of what they wished for.

But I don't think anyone would have guessed that our No. 1 division rival, the New Orleans Saints, would make it from the Big Easy to the big dance.

I tried to draw parallels. I never root for the Florida Gators, as a Bulldog fan, when they are playing in the SEC title game. I don't even root for Georgia Tech when they play in theirs.

So how could I root for the Saints? I hate the Saints, right?

Yet, last night I found myself not only rooting for the Saints but straight up cheering for them. I was leaping off my chair whenever they made a big play. I was complaining when the refs made bad calls in the Vikings' favor.

What was I thinking? Well, I kind of had that coming, and I think a lot of Falcons fans, as well as Southerners, can relate.

What New Orleans accomplished last night was something special. It was more than just another NFC title, like the so many that have been won before.

The city of New Orleans is roughly five years removed from the second greatest disaster to ever hit American soil. Never before had we seen an entire city, an entire establishment, completely submerged under water.

As someone who previously had no connection to New Orleans, at the age of 15, I was somewhat traumatized by the whole thing.

Seeing that entire city, the "Big Easy", shredded apart and leaking toxic water had me glued to the television for days. I could not get the disaster off my mind.

I remember for a week I was completely distracted from my teachers at school because all I could think about were the images.

A major American city had seemingly been completely destroyed. Mind you this was just after the Tsunami hit in Indonesia and just four years following the 9/11 attacks. It almost felt like the apocalypse had arrived.

Seeing major, traumatic, and epic events like this on television had become the norm for me.

And through it all, the Louisiana Superdome, the home of the New Orleans Saints, became the symbol of the devastation. The once magnificent looking structure had holes in the roof. Cots were set up to adorn the hash marks of the field.

The tunnels and concession areas became temporary homes, bathrooms, and for some even graves—death beds.

You kind of take sports for granted, never even imagining that something catastrophic could take it all away. And it is almost foolish of me to even type that sentence considering there are so many other things in life more important than sports.

But for the city of New Orleans, that may not be the case, because their sports became a safe haven and a medicine.

And the healing culminated last night.

The entire city of New Orleans let out 70,000 plus cheers of redemption and hope as Garrett Hartley's 40-yard field goal passed through the uprights.

And I kind of felt a part of it. Americans, I think, felt a part of it. Heck, maybe even the Colts fans felt a part of it.

My ties with New Orleans have increased in recent years. Living in Marietta, just a few miles northwest of Atlanta, many New Orleans refugees came to our town after the hurricane.

I got to meet many of them, probably a few dozen refugees within a year of the hurricane. They became my classmates and my friends.

This scenario happened all throughout the Atlanta area.

Since then, the Falcons vs. Saints games, whether being in Atlanta or in New Orleans or in San Antonio became a friendly gathering.

Since then, the Falcons vs. Saints games have become a friendly rivalry, if you can even put "rivalry" there.

Also, in 2008, I was in New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl. It felt really cool to go down there and see the progression of the city. I got a sampler, a rather insufficient sampler, of what my new friends still back in Atlanta had gone through.

Driving into town, all of the houses on both sides of the interstate were covered with blue tarp. Seeing that was surreal.

I then got to go inside the Superdome. At that moment I felt like I was having more of a religious experience. My greatest memories of that trip aren't from the 41-10 win by UGA, but the fact I got to go inside that dome.

I was part of the rebuilding of the city, no matter how very small my part might have been.

Seeing the Louisiana Superdome become a symbol of winning since 2005 has been a perfect channel for the people and the city of New Orleans to display it's redemption to the entire world.

Back in 2005 I was certain the Superdome would never host a game again, let alone an NFC Championship game—something the Saints had never before hosted.

The fact that the Saints breakthrough of success followed the tragedy of Katrina makes it a feat of epic proportions.

And that feat has been felt all the way up here in Atlanta, and I'm sure also throughout the United States.

In any other scenario I would have scalded my rival.

However, last night I cheered the Saints on and even threw a fist pump as Hartley's kick went true.

I felt a part of something great. Being able to witness what happened felt like a once in a lifetime event.

My fondest sports memories are of the Falcons game winning field goal against the Vikings in overtime, ironically, back in 1999. They are of the Georgia Bulldogs 2002 and 2005 SEC titles.

They are of my local high schools success on the football field and basketball court.

But I definitely feel like witnessing this Saints win, the win of an apparently "hated rival", will withstand as one of the most memorable sports moments I have seen.

And for that, how can I not cheer for them next Sunday?