Do You Believe In Miracles? Yes! Saints Are in the Super Bowl at Last!

Sean Payton told him to aim at the Fleur de Lis just beyond the goal posts.

But Garrett Hartley already knew how it would unfold. On Saturday night, he had one of those middle-of-the-night premonitions prompting a phone call to his father.

"Last night I really couldn't sleep too well. I called my dad (Bill) at 2:15 in the morning and I said Dad I have a feeling I'm going to hit a game-winner from 42 yards on the right hash. I think I was off by about two yards."

Only 4:45 into overtime, Hartley achieved his moment of glory:

"It's Good! Pigs have flown! Hell has frozen over! The Saints are on their way to the Super Bowl!" exclaimed the voice of the New Orleans Saints, Jim Henderson.

Hartley's dream may have been off by two yards but his game-winning 40-yard kick could not have been more deadly accurate.

It was absolute perfection, giving the New Orleans Saints a 31-28 overtime victory over the Minnesota Vikings and sending the star-crossed franchise to its first Super Bowl in the team's long and tortured history.

Hartley, who kicked collegiately at Oklahoma, is certainly the unlikeliest of heroes.

On December 26, he missed a 37-yard field goal with nine seconds left that would have given the Saints a victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Superdome. The Bucs went on to win, 20-17, in overtime and not even the most courageous New Orleans Riverboat gambler would have placed a wager at Harrah's that Hartley would kick the Saints into the Super Bowl less than one month later.

However, as Father Tony, pastor of Our Lady of Hopeless Cases on the edge of the French Quarter, often preaches, "the last shall be first! The meek shall inherit the Earth."

Was it Hartley the good Father had in mind when he made that declaration? 

The Reverend was unavailable for comment late Sunday night.

And the three men he admires most, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost? They took the last train for the Coast shortly after the game ended.

Hartley's upright splitting kick touched off a wild celebration in the French Quarter as patrons at The Little Tropical Isle raced out to the middle of Bourbon Street, dancing and high fiving as amused spectators snapped photgraphs of the sheer and unadulterated jubilation.

French Quarter exotic dancers, a website sports reporter and a minor candidate for mayor of New Orleans were seen in the middle of the mayhem that unfolded just moments after the kick. New Orleans' finest were monitoring the situation closely to make sure things didn't get out of hand.

Thousands joined the party.

Just moments earlier, it appeared the Saints' dream season was coming to an abrupt and heart-wrenching conclusion.

Bourbon Street was eerily quiet. Not even the Baptists were making noise.

Brett Favre was one pass away from adding to his long list of dramatic comebacks. Instead he added to his long list of playoff meltdowns, firing an ill-advised pass against the grain and across his body that Saints cornerback Tracy Porter intercepted.

It was reminiscent of the Favre of years past, although he had avoided throwing back-breaking interceptions this season. Favre isn't saying whether he will be back, but given his past history, expect a retirement announcement in February followed by an un-retirement announcement in March.

Although the Vikings dominated in every statistical category but the scoreboard, turnovers proved to be their undoing and the Minnesota defense appeared a little over-hyped. The Saints young left tackle Jermon Bushrod held his own against Vikings' Pro Bowl end Jared Allen and guards Jahri Evans and Carl Nix were up to the challenge of the Williams' brothers.

It was quite a dramatic comeback for a city that five years ago witnessed pieces of the Super Dome roof blow through the windows of the Benson Office Tower just across the street as the building succumbed to the relentless winds of Hurricane Katrina on national television.

By contrast, the Vikings did not seem nearly as fierce.

Some are saying the Saints win was a by-product of luck but those French Quarter soothsayers claim you create your own luck...and when was the last time they were wrong about anything?

Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While the sergeants played a marching tune.
We all got up to dance,
Oh, but we never got the chance!
`cause the players tried to take the field;
The marching band refused to yield.
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?

The music and the singing and the dancing and the drinking lasted until the wee hours of the morning on Bourbon Street making Mardi Gras look like the church picnic by sunrise.

Call it luck if you wish.

The New Orleans Saints are in The Super Bowl. All is right with the world.

But just to be safe, make sure your spiritual life is in order.

The end may be near after all.