Mickles: Saints weather adversity

• By SHELDON MICKLES
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Sep 5, 2008 - Page: 1C - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Reprints
• Twitter
• Share

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

As everyone knows, the New Orleans Saints haven’t been the most successful franchise in NFL history.

What they have been is the most resilient team in NFL history.

Hands down. No doubt about it. Not even close.

What the Saints lack in silverware, namely the coveted Vince Lombardi Trophy that goes to the Super Bowl champion, they more than make up for in dealing with adversity.

OK, some may think it’s ridiculous to be talking about highly-paid athletes who have to flee from a hurricane — on a chartered flight — when hundreds of thousands of Louisiana residents are sitting in the storm’s path.

Or afterwards, sitting in a seemingly endless line waiting for food, ice, gas and other essentials — assuming you can find some.

But the Saints, their coaches and front office executives are human, too. They, like everyone else, had to get their families out of the city before they could head to Indianapolis to prepare for Sunday’s regular-season opener with Tampa Bay.

Hunkering down for a major hurricane is tough enough. But it’s no picnic sitting helpless in a hotel room more than 800 miles away, either.

But it’s something they’ve become used to with three such trips under their belts since 2004. It’s especially old hat for 11 members of the current team — including running back Deuce McAllister, defensive tackle Brian Young and defensive end Will Smith — who’ve had to leave three times.

They went to San Antonio in advance of Hurricane Ivan, which eventually missed New Orleans, in mid-September 2004; then, of course, spent the entire 2005 season in San Antonio after Katrina devastated Louisiana and Mississippi.

Then, there was Gustav.

While owner Tom Benson and General Manager Mickey Loomis were veterans of the first two storms, Sean Payton and his staff and players were experiencing their first.

When asked Wednesday what they were thinking Monday, Drew Brees didn’t waste any time.