NFL: Who Dat Say Dey Gonna Sue Dem Saints' Businesses?

While the NFL claims trademark infringement over the use of "Who Dat" in T-shirt making, Saints' fans say that the league cannot trademark a phrase that's been around for 150 years.

I know that the Saints haven't been around that long, but the "Who Dat" phrase has an origin that is so old that many feel it should be public domain.

That is, everyone except the NFL, who has hit T-shirt makers with cease-and-desist letters demanding that they stop selling shirts with the traditional cheer.

The NFL says the shirts infringe on a legal trademark it owns. Meanwhile, two Saints' fans claim they own the phrase. Either way, it has been around for a long time, well before the Saints' inception in 1966.

Where the "Who Dat" originated is the subject of much debate. Some say it came about in the days of late 19th-century minstrel shows and later showed up in vaudeville routines. In 1937's "A Day at the Races," the Marx Brothers perform a number -- in blackface -- called "Who Dat Man."

"Who Dat" also is used in a 1938 MGM cartoon -- now seldom seen because of its racially offensive nature -- called "Swing Wedding," which featured frog caricatures of black entertainers such as Ethel Waters, the Mills Brothers, Louis Armstrong, and Cab Calloway.

Saints' fans are livid.

The chant -- "Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints" -- is often shortened to "Who Dat" on shirts and signs and has been a mainstay at the Superdome since the 1980s.

As usual, this is all about the almighty dollar. And when the NFL thinks it's being ripped off, things can get ugly.

This is a perfect example of how litigious our society has become. "Sue everyone" seems to be our country's motto.

I don't know about you, but I'm getting sick and tired of how lawyers are ruining our country.

And before you say, who cares, remember the devastation New Orleans had to go through following hurricane Katrina? And to try and limit some legitimate businesses from profiting from a slogan that no one rightly owns is a bad public relations move by the NFL.

I have no doubt that the NFL will win this dispute. But who dat say dey are right?