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The New Orleans Saints: The best team in the NFL.
A fact that really did not hit home until the St. Augustine High School Marching 100 began to play at the team's Super Bowl victory parade on Tuesday.
With every musical note, gyrating hip-pump and spin-around dance step, the band's rendition of the "Stand Up and Get Crunk" made me appreciate the deep relationship between the Saints -- a franchise that I once collected checks from -- and their fans.
For some reason, I overlooked this love affair at first.
Don't get me wrong. Like everyone else, I looked forward to watching this year's Super Bowl. Drew Brees vs. Peyton Manning. It was a matchup between the league's two best regular season teams going head-to-head in a championship game. How could you not be excited?
But once the Super Bowl ended -- with the Saints defeating the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 in Miami -- my emotions ran dry.
There were no tears of happiness or fits of anger. No sentimental moments of reflection or comedy flashbacks.
Just a whole lot of emptiness for a team that used to pay my bills.
Why? I really didn't know.
The logical reason for my lack of feeling would go back to three days before the start of the 1987 season when then-Saints coach Jim Mora told me the team placed me on waivers.
But that logic would not be accurate.
Was I disappointed to be cut by the Saints? You bet. But I never had any ill-will toward the team for letting me go. That's because I was an undrafted wide receiver/kick returner out of USC and considered a long shot to make the team in the first place.
The Saints were a much different franchise back then. Mora was in his second year working for flamboyant owner Tom Benson, who had purchased the franchise two years earlier, and the team was in desperate need of change.
The Saints had never played in a playoff game in nearly 20 years in the league, and the franchise had a reputation for hiring and firing coaches as if they were going out of style.
From Hank Stram to Bum Phillips to Dick Nolan, it was all about losing for an organization that had six head coaches over its first 12 seasons in existence.
For most NFL franchises, a string of sub-par seasons like New Orleans had from 1967 to 1986 would kill a fan base. But that did not happen with the Saints, who maintained strong support one losing season after another.
It did not take long for me to realize that football in Louisiana cut deep and the Saints were a way of life for their fans. Even when I played for the team, the backing they received was impressive. Fans would line up for hours just to meet star players like quarterback Bobby Hebert and linebackers Rickey Jackson and Sam Mills.
But fans of the Saints also took time to meet nondescript players like myself and that's what made the franchise so special.
Fast forward to Tuesday and the St. Augustine Marching 100. With thousands stacked around the city streets from Poydras to LaSalle, the band did not have to do much to help spark the crowd.
But that would be expected for a franchise that has enjoyed unwavering support for over 42 years. It's a passionate bond between a city and a football team. It's something that will likely never change and you didn't have to be a fan of the Ying Yang Twins in order to notice.
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