New Orleans Saints - Team History: The Saints have one of the most pathetic stories in NFL franchise history. The city of New Orleans was awarded a team in 1966 and the first season was in 1967. One of the lone highlights in the early years was the record setting field goal hit by place kicker Tom Dempsey in 1970. Archie Manning (father of Peyton and Eli) was the QB for the New Orleans Saints during the 1970's and did his best to right the team in rough waters. George Rogers (RB) gave the team hope in the early 1980's but the team never did better than .500 football. The team made the playoffs for the first time after the 1987 season with Morten Anderson kicking field goals and the defense demolishing their opponents. The Saints continued their winning ways for a few more years with Pat Swilling, Ricky Jackson, and Sam Mills bringing the defense together. The team has never won the SuperBowl or even played in the big game. In 2006-2007 I think the Saints had a real chance at doing something special with an explosive offense that included Drew Brees and Reggie Bush. They beat the Eagles at home and then lost to the Chicago Bears. This year the Saints started terribly and have picked up the pace considerably since. What has become obvious is that Reggie Bush is not a good running back, but he can do almost everything else needed. The team needs a healthy Deuce McAllister in order to run the ball effectively and set up the pass. With Marques Colston and Terrance Copper at wide receiver the team has deep threats, but we will have to see what becomes of this year. If you want to follow the team online, go to Neworleanssaints.com for roster moves, standings, stats, schedules, radio stations that air the games and tv affiliates that broadcast them. The video archives are fun to watch with all the great plays that Reggie Bush has week in and week out. They need some kind of spark to get the season going in the right direction. You'd have to say the Saints are lucky to be in a fairly week division with the Falcons, Panthers, and Bucs who are all struggling as well. New Orleans Saints Cheerleaders: The New Orleans Saints cheerleaders are called the Saintsations and the squad is lovelier than ever. I have to say they are right up with the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders this year and the Swimsuit Calendar due out soon should be a huge seller. The 2008 Saints Cheerleading calendar will sell for $15 and autographed ones are $20 more. Each girl is highlighted on the site with a brief bio and some high resolution pictures you can download. I wish the group photo would be bigger and downloadable as a wallpaper image, but maybe next year. You can see their event calendar online and find out about auditions if you want to join. New Orleans Saints Wallpaper Images: The Saints official website carries some decent desktop wallpaper images that you can download for free and put on your computer. The ones of Deuce McAllister are great and they even have a classic shot of Tom Dempsey kicking the record breaking field goal. One of the wallpapers is of the Saints logo and another has their helmet. The only wallpaper of Reggie Bush shows him holding up the jersey on draft day. They need to update the wallpaper section with news ones of Drew Brees and Bush. To get additional photos of the top players, try going to http://neworleanssaints.tripod.com/wallpaper.html. You can get wallpaper pictures of Aaron Brooks, Joe Horn, Michael Lewis, Dale Carter and several others. Tickets, Jerseys, and Fan Sites: After hurricane Katrina hit the city of New Orleans, the team was temporarily put up in other stadiums until they could get the Superdome and other facilities back on track. During that down time the Saints did their best to keep the cities interest and the acquisition of Drew Brees and Reggie Bush surely didn't hurt. You can still get season tickets in New Orleans and individual game tickets are also available for most games. If Bush becomes the superstar that we all think he will be, season tickets will go fast. The online store on the Saints site sells replica jerseys for about $75 and of course the Reggie Bush one is the top seller. You can also buy hats, sweatshirts, jackets and other official team apparel online. Fan sites are popping up all over the web now that the Saints have a decent team. Some of the best we could find are at Blackandgold.com, Whodatzone.com and the Saintsreport.com. All offer in depth articles on players, recent games, and team happenings. Visit them to read blogs or make your own comments. © 1999-2008 Funskins.com - Product Reviews