New Orleans: From Katrina to Super Bowl 44

Feb. 5, 2010 — -- The Saints' trip to the Super Bowl isn't just a source of city pride for New Orleans. It's a personal victory for its residents.

Nearly five years after New Orleans was slammed by Hurricane Katrina, residents and natives alike hope for a win for the Saints at the NFL's top event, saying it would mean much more than a year's worth of bragging rights.

"We're coming back," fan Kate Friedler said, "and it's kind of proving to everybody that, you know, New Orleans is being rebuilt."

"I feel so important and so special," another fan said. "We have finally arrived."

The city has continued to struggle since Katrina, the worst natural disaster in its history, destroyed 70,000 homes and displaced many more. But the Saints' victory in the playoffs has been one of the biggest bright spots for the city in years.

Dave Walker of the New Orleans Times Picayune said some city residents even took newspapers with news of the Saints' going to the Super Bowl to the cemeteries to share with their deceased loved ones.

"A lot of people were still in touch with the souls of the departed people who they learned to be Saints fans from, their dad or mom or grandpa," he said.

One person caught in the middle of all this revelry -- and rivalry -- is star Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, who was born in New Orleans and was heavily involved in relief efforts after Katrina. Some have questioned whether his head will be with the Colts Sunday and his heart with New Orleans.

But Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic, hosts of ESPN's "Mike and Mike in the Morning," said they are confident Manning will leave his heart out of it and play for a win for the Colts.

"It's laughable to think that there would be any kind of thing in his heart that says if New Orleans gets it, then it would be fine," Golic told "Good Morning America" today. "He will go in and he will try to carve up the Saints on Super Bowl Sunday."

Although the Saints may wipe the floor with Colts in terms of team spirit, Greenberg and Golic predicted the Saints won't have enough to beat their rivals Sunday.

"I think it's going to be very difficult for them," Golic said. "In the end, I think Peyton may be a little much for them."

Making it to the Super Bowl alone could be considered a victory for a franchise that was considered at one point among the worst in the NFL, even earning the nickname the "Aints."

But Tom Dempsey, the former Saints player who kicked the famous 63-year field goal in 1970, said the fans were there even during the dark days.

"We weren't a great football team," he said. "The love affair between the Saints and the fans started way back then before the 'Who Dat' nation."