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Lonnie White recalls sights, sounds and (gulp!) smells of Saints' bad old days

PRO FOOTBALL / FIRST PERSON

White, a former USC and New Orleans wide receiver (and a former Times sportswriter), was with Saints in 1987, when they ran a third-class program and were treated like second-class citizens around the NFL.

February 02, 2010|By Lonnie White

We all discovered how thin this club really was when the Saints spent several days in Wisconsin practicing against the Chicago Bears, who were still riding the success of their Super Bowl XX victory over New England. For the entire week, the Saints were treated like a JV team compared with the Bears, who were led by marquee players like Walter Payton, Jim McMahon and Mike Singletary. And we felt like one.

When we arrived on buses and the fans discovered we weren't the Bears, they would just walk away. Guess they figured we were practice scrubs. People thought nothing of walking through our workouts and team practices. In town when people asked and discovered we were the Saints, they would say: "Is there a player we would know?" Talk about humbling.

As it turned out, Mora was the coach who finally got this franchise headed in the right direction and led the Saints to their first playoff appearance. And today it's a much different story for the Saints. They have become America's new "feel-good" team heading into Sunday's Super Bowl matchup against the Indianapolis Colts. The team has a new, state-of-the-art practice facility and the franchise's fan support ranks among the best in the league.

Funny how things change. Well, funny now.

Lonnie White is a feature writer for Fanhouse.com.

lonniewhite9@gmail.com

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