New Orleans Saints: Who Dat? Not the 'Aints

Who'd-a-thunk-it?

The New Orleans Saints are going to the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history.

Not only are the Bayou Boys headed to the big show, but they've won more playoff games in one postseason than they have in the 40 or so years that they've existed.

Drew Brees has been nothing short of MVP-caliber all season, and Reggie Bush shed his underachiever status right before fans' eyes in the last half of the year.

Brees and company find themselves headed to Miami thanks to the leg of kicker Garret Hartley. Hartley's 42-yard kick made everyone in Louisiana hold their breath for the three seconds or so it took to split the uprights perfectly—three seconds that were 40 years in the making for Saints fans.

It was done. A 31-28 victory had the team ready to pack its bags and head for South Beach.

The Saints aren't done yet: They still have one more game to win before the Katrina-ravaged city can fully let its hair down and celebrate like it's Mardi Gras.

After losing their last three games of the regular season, many NFL pundits questioned the Saints' heart: Could they make it through the playoffs?

Coach Sean Payton had faith in his team, and, by golly, it did it.

Parading the George Halas Trophy in front of thousands of the Saints' faithful chanting "Who Dat," Brees was a part of perhaps one of the most emotional sports moments in decades.

New Orleans put its big-boy pants on and crushed Kurt Warner's Arizona Cardinals, 45-14. The Saints didn't stop there, with one more silver-haired, grizzled veteran quarterback standing in their way to Miami—Brett Favre.

As if knocking off two legendary quarterbacks on their way to Super Bowl 44 wasn't quite a story for the New Orleans Saints, they'll have to face one of the game's all-time greats on Feb. 7—Peyton Manning.

After everything that the Gulf Region has endured in the last four-and-a-half years, the team that nobody wanted (at one point in time) has the whole Deep South cheering for it.

No bags on fans' heads, no "Aints" moniker, no relocation to San Antonio—the Super Saints have single-handedly put a once-dismal city back on the map.