Heading back to my battered and beloved home town to tell the inside story of this remarkable triumph — what could be a better adventure than that?
Sean Payton is a fascinating guy and a brilliant football coach. He and the Saints gave an extraordinary gift to New Orleans — just when the city needed it most. The Saints gave the city its swagger back.
The whole Gulf South region had been through so much with Katrina and the floods that followed. Some people said the area would never bounce back. This young coach learned instinctively how wrong they were. Then he showed the rest of the world.
There’s a special quality to the people around New Orleans, a special character and a special strength. The people don’t give up — ever. They live, in every dimension of the word. They look inside themselves. They grab their inspiration where they find it. And they thrive again.
They do what others warn was impossible, up to and including saving themselves.
Now they are everyone’s Home Team.
E-mail ellis@henican.com. Follow him at twitter.com/henican
Sean Payton spoke about the book on ESPN yesterday – “You’re gonna laugh, you’re gonna get emotional.”
Early reviews called it a “real page-turner” and also said “the first thing you need to know about Sean Payton’s Super Bowl memoir: It’s a great read.”
Off to buy the book. (Does that cliche work anywhere?) Amazon here I click.