New Orleans Saints make history posted Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 @ 9:46 pm  E-mail Story |  Print Story  The New Orleans Saints' remarkable run in the 2009 season concludes Sunday in Miami in Super Bowl XLIV. Hard to believe but it's real. Early on in the 2009 campaign it was more than obvious that this year's Saints were like none other. Led by quarterback Drew Brees and a much-improved defense, New Orleans ripped off 13 straight wins before dropping the final three games of the regular season. The Saints bounced back, of course, to win convincingly against Arizona three weeks ago in New Orleans' first playoff game and again one week later against a Brett Favre-led Minnesota Viking squad in the NFC championship. The city of New Orleans as well as every Saints fan throughout Louisiana and beyond celebrated the team's first-ever NFC title and first-ever trip to the Super Bowl. Fond memories were created that certainly will last a lifetime. They'll last a lifetime because we've suffered with the Saints for years, beginning in 1967 when New Orleans took the field as an expansion team at old Tulane Stadium. Years of losing and disappointment were the norm for the New Orleans Saints and their loyal fans. It was the norm until Sean Payton arrived in the Crescent City to serve as head coach. Though coach Jim Mora delivered New Orleans to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history in 1987, it was Payton along with Brees and company who established the Saints as winners. It's only fitting that the Saints have been winners of late. After all, the franchise and many of the players who play for it have played a pivotal role in the ongoing efforts to rebuild New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. It could be argued that as the Saints progressed on the gridiron over the past few years the rebuilding of New Orleans progressed, too. Call us superstitious or whatever pleases you, but we believe it. Yet, we're optimists who believe in Louisiana and her people. That's also one of the reasons we're predicting the New Orleans Saints will prevail against New Orleans native Payton Manning and his Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV. History is on New Orleans' side.