Saints unveil Steve Gleason statue.

One of the greatest moments in Saints history is immortalized. Not sure why, but I didn't even know they were doing this. Pretty freakin' awesome...


http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8...ints-unveil-statue-steve-gleason-blocked-punt

 

Not to be outdone, the Falcons are planning a statue commemorating their greatest moment against the Saints...a statue of Grover Klemmer throwing that bogus interference flag.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...vRdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=el8NAAAAIBAJ&pg=2969,4341530

Then along came Nov. 12, 1978.
Talk about huge, but only in the minds of two NFL precincts.
This was a showdown between the 6-4 Falcons, then tied for the second wild-card spot in the NFC, and the 5-5 Saints, in their best position ever to make the playoffs.
"I Believe" T-shirts were sold out. So was the 70,000-seat Superdome.
Keep this in mind. An NFL member for 12 years, the Saints were best known for Tom Dempsey's 63-yard field goal, Al Hirt's trumpet, halftime shows, and the forgettable Charlton Heston movie "Number One."
A year before, the Saints had made headlines by helping Tampa Bay break an 0-26 losing streak.
Now Saints fans were talking about a countdown to the playoffs, moving into the "magic number" derby.
As it happened, on 11/12/78, the only magic was some real-life voodoo, the start of the most bizarre three-game stretch in the Saints-Falcons series.
With the Saints leading 17-13 with 10 seconds remaining, Steve Bartkowski lofts a 57-yard "Big Ben"/ Hail Mary pass (choose one) toward the end zone. One Falcon tips it to another, who then makes his way past three Saints on a 10-yard run into the end zone. Falcons 20, Saints 17.
Two weeks later, we're in Atlanta, and with 10 seconds left there is Bartkowski again, this time throwing 26 yards into the end zone. Incomplete pass. Hold on. Yellow flag, thrown by side judge Grover Klemmer. Interference.
On the next play, Falcons score from the one.
Falcons 20, Saints 17.
"I was surprised when I saw the flag, " said Falcons receiver Dennis Pearson. "If he hadn't thrown it, I wouldn't have complained." Whereupon, the fun began.
A string of psychiatrists put New Orleans on the couch.
One diagnosis: "Your football team is playing like a city that lost its confidence. You lost your NBA team to Sale Lake City. You probably hate Atlanta because you have to fly Delta to get anywhere. You had a police strike. You called off Mardi Gras. This produced a demoralized state of affairs and hurt your football team."
All right. But how did the Saints lose two games, in almost the same way, by the same score?
"Sigmund Freud figured that out a long time ago. He called it 'Repetition Compulsion.' It's the strong tendency to repeat the pathological process. Just as some women are attracted to alcoholic males. In cases like this, the ego becomes a creature of habit. Sorry about that, New Orleans."
All right. No playoffs for the 7-9 Saints, thanks to the Falcons, and Grover Klemmer. A painful offseason. Then the '79 schedule is announced. Horrors. Saints open at home with the Falcons.
The shrinks are at it again. How will the Saints lose this time? Fans talk about dreaming of clocks (that resemble Big Ben), about zebras (that look like Grover Klemmer).

 

I had never been so Pi$$ed off about an NFL game in my whole life.

 

Same here. Even though I was only 8-9 years old, I remember both games like it was yesterday; especially the hail mary play because it was the first (of many) time I'd ever felt like I had my heart ripped from my chest. The bogus PI penalty in ATL a few weeks later infuriated me and made me question the integrity of the game.

Some entrepreneur in the Quarter made a killing off of the 'I HATE THE FALCONS' tshirts. I believe that game served as the beginning of the hated rivalry between the 2 teams; or among the fans of each team.

 

Fox Sports named Gleason as the "Best feel-good moment" of week one of the 2013 season writing:

Best feel-good moment: Steve Gleason leading the Saints crowd in the ‘Who dat’ chant. There weren’t many dry eyes inside the Superdome when Gleason, a former Saints safety who is suffering from ALS, went out with head coach Sean Payton to do the traditional “Who Dat” chant before the team’s game against the Falcons. The Saints then went out and picked up a thrilling victory . Totally awesome.

 

I was lucky to have recorded the moment on my phone. It was another great moment in Saints history. I don't think I've ever heard a louder 'Who Dat' chant since we started doing it.

 

I was not unaware of the significance of the 20-17 score when we kicked that field goal to make it 23-17. I called my dad and reminded him of that score. He called back and said, "For once, 20-17 was a curse for them !!!"