The New Orleans Saints: My Team

 





I started fifth grade in September, 1969, at Christian Brothers, located in City Park, which up until 1959 was also the original location of Sam Barthe School. I was ten years old, stood 4’7” tall and weighed 68 lbs.


The 1969 New Orleans Saints season was the team’s third as a member of the National Football League, and I was a rabid fan!


I’m not sure of the occasion, but my parents bought season tickets that year for me to attend with two of my closest friends, Stephen Ehlinger and Stewart Douglas. We sat up in the nosebleed section of the River Side of the end zone and thoroughly enjoyed each and every game. Tom Fears was our head coach, with Don Heinrich as our offensive backfield coach and Billy Kilmer as our starting quarterback. We also had Danny Abramowicz at wide receiver, Doug Atkins at linebacker, and Dave Whitsell at safety.


The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third consecutive season, winning five games, but it didn’t matter. We had a blast! Kicker Tom Dempsey led the team in scoring with 99 points and was named to the Pro Bowl.


At the end of 1969, my parents decided it was too difficult for me to go to and from our new home on Cleveland Place in new Metairie all the way to Christian Brothers in City Park by public transportation, so I started attending the public elementary school located near our new home, which was called James Madison Elementary.


It was at James Madison where I met new neighbors and friends Jojo Fears, daughter of Tom Fears, and Mike Heinrich, son of offensive backfield coach Don Heinrich. I also ended up as neighbors and childhood friends of the Abramowicz and Whitsell families...


I continued to follow and love the Saints all through the 70s and into the 80s until Archie Manning played his last down. It was the end of a wonderful era. Today, I count Cooper Manning as a friend and thoroughly enjoying watching Arch move his team down the Isadore Newman High School field.


© 2022 Jeffrey Pipes Guice

My Wonder Years: A Book

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