Mercury Rising: Will Saints Match '72 Dolphins?

Went over to Our Lady of Hopeless Cases this morning and prayed as earnestly as a man can pray these days in this salacious city of New Orleans- replete with its countless temptations and Houses of Ill Repute.

Prayed hard. Prayed real hard for my lost journalistic objectivity.

It's hard not to fall head over heels for these New Orleans Saints.

I'm not in love, so don't forget it
It's just a silly phase I'm going through

I keep your picture upon the wall
It hides a nasty stain that's lyin' there
So don't you ask me to give it back
I know you know it doesn't mean that much to me
I'm not in love, no-no
(It's because...) 

I was born in Sweetwater, AL to ... 

Those long time French Quarter denizens tell me of cool Saturday nights in the Fall years ago when The Very Reverend Bob Harrington, the Chaplain of Bourbon Street, would try in vain to console many a forlorn Saints fan outside of places like Big Daddy's and Crazy Horse Cabaret.

They say he would proclaim from the rooftops:

Allow me to intoduce myself. I am the Reverend Bob Harrington, the Chaplain of Bourbon Street - the Roto-Rooter of your wayward soul!

Shame over Success! Turn from your evil ways! Flush those sins from your soul!

Now, I say! Now, I say! Now! Now! Now!

Amen and Amen! Alleluia and Alleluia! Amen and Amen!

Some of those suffering Saints fans - lost sheep as they were - heeded the Reverend's call and returned to the flock. Some joined the Reverend on the rooftops. And, as legend has it, some of them jumped from those very same rooftops.

Chaplain Bob himself eventually succumbed to the temptations that infamous street has to offer.....succumbed to those very evils he preached so valiantly against- before rediscovering the Lord in the Autumn of his years.

Alas, that was the seventies. A very different time. The Saints were coached by an ex-Marine and the GM was an astronaut and the organization was full of space cadets and the Miami Dolphins ruled the football world with a bespectacled QB and a trio of running backs named Mercury and Csonka and Kiick.

It was 1972. Richard Nixon defeated George Mc Govern and was re-elected President. Watergate was on the verge of erupting. Terrorism struck the Olympics in Munich. And the Miami Dolphins were on their way to making NFL history.

Dolphins Blank Colts, 16-0--Go Down in History

Miami, Fla (AP) " The Miami Dolphins compiled the best record in National Football League history Saturday, going undefeated in 14 regular season games and becoming the NFL's greatest rushing team ever, as Garo Yepremian kicked three field goals for a 16-0 victory over the Baltimore Colts."

"Miami became only the third team in the NFL to go undefeated.The 1942 Chicago Bears finished 11-0 and the 1934 Bears were 13-0. The Cleveland Browns won 14 straight, but did it in the old All-American Conference before they joined the NFL.

"Fans in the Orange Bowl saved two of their biggest ovations for the appearances of quarterbacks Johnny Unitas of the Colts and Bob Griese of the Dolphins."

On Wednesday at 4:48 a.m., ESPN Radio asked the question, "Is Mercury Morris getting worried? Will the Saints go undefeated?"

By 5:18a.m., the network announced that the Saints are the number one team in football in the latest power rankings."

We aren't done here. It's going to be a dramatic comeback.

Pretty heady stuff these days in Nawlins. Feels like Mardi Gras all year round in The City That Care Forgot.

6:00 a.m. "8 and O, baby!," shouts the Wal-Mart greeter. "8 and 0, dawlin!"

I think she is insane but, nevertheless, laugh and yell and shout and generally make a total ass out of myself....."Who Dat! Who Dat Say Dey Gonna Beat 'Dem Saints? Who Dat!" before quickly walking away toward the self-help section.

While most of America would laugh at the suggestion that these Saints will be the first team in NFL history to go undefeated since those Miami Dolphins, minds can be changed.

Payton is as shrewd as Shula. Brees is as methodical and efficient as Griese- both skillful surgeons in their own right. Thomas, Bell and Bush are running through opposing defenses like Mercury, Csonka and Kiick did all those years ago. Gregg Williams' guys are every bit as opportunistic as that '72 Dolphins No-Name Defense.

Ooooh, dream weaver
I believe you can get me through the night
Ooooh, dream weaver
I believe we can reach the morning light

Fly me high through the starry skies
Maybe to an astral plane
Cross the highways of fantasy
Help me to forget todays pain

Never been a better time to dream big dreams if you're a Saints fan these days and why the hell not? This town has endured enough pain in the last four years to last three lifetimes.

The Miami Dolphins finished the 1972 season with a perfect 17-0 season, culminating with a 14-7 win over the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII.

It is a unique accomplishment that has stood the test of time. 

Will these magical New Orleans Saints attain their moment of glory and match those Dolphins of '72?

Most of America thinks not.

Alas, minds can be changed. 

 "I was born in Sweetwater, AL to Robert and Ludie Harrington. We were good church going people. My mother played the organ at the Methodist church, and we were there every time the doors were open. When I was a boy of nine years, my Grandmother Shoultz and I were at church one Sunday. She encouraged me to join that day because my mother, who was not able to come that morning, "would be proud of me."  So I did, and for 21 years I considered myself a Christian and was a "good church member." 

After having served God for many years as Chaplain of Bourbon Street, I began to leave my "First Love" for the Lord. Fame, fortune and frolic got me off the track. I had been on all the major talk shows such as Donahue and Oprah, as well as having my own syndicated TV show across the country. Money got to be no object as the dollars flowed in, and the making of money began to be my focus. I began listening to the young women who bragged on how good I was and looked, and became addicted to their ego boosts. I finally left preaching altogether and went strictly into very successful years as a motivational speaker--finally leaving God completely out of my life. I was miserable; living (existing) on fun and thrills. Little happiness, no joy.

One night while in Los Angeles, CA, I was considering jumping out of a window, when the phone rang and my friend Rex Humbard asked me, "Bro. Bob, aren’t you ready to come back?" I cried, "Yes, I’m so ready!" He then lead me in reading the 51st Psalm and praying David’s prayer of restoration. Suddenly the burden of guilt was lifted and I knew that God had other plans for my life. These years since then have been a growing and rebuilding time for me, and I’m thrilled to say: "I’m back and It’s Still Fun Being Saved!"