[Audio from YouTube video, “SAINTS 2011 PREGAME CHANT.”

Drew Brees: We take this show on the road.

Team: Beat everybody. Hoo!

Brees: Big plays all day.

Team: Beat everybody.

Brees: Shoot the ball home.

Team: Beat everybody. Hoo!

Brees: Big hits, no quit.

Team: Beat everybody. I’m in my own zone. Hey! I’m in my own zone. What!]

John W. Mecom Jr.: By the way, I found out professional football is not a place for a romantic. And, at heart, I am. Today I’d much rather be a fan than an owner. Although some may not think, we always felt we were local folks. It was just a natural progression, really, as part of the community to get involved in whatever we could over there. And the Saints came along. For whatever reason, we were asked to get involved and did, and ended up with a franchise. The people adopted the franchise. It was not my franchise. I was the one they could scream and holler at, throw eggs at, whatever may happen. The fans of Louisiana became the alumni of the Saints, in particular New Orleans, but it did go beyond New Orleans. We were much luckier than many cities where you have to build the association. It was just theirs.

[“Saints Superfan” song plays.]

Mecom: I never read a playbook. I never wanted to learn a playbook. I never asked the coaches to explain a play to me, although I think I was accused of calling plays at times. I didn’t do that. That was not my forte, but I did feel like why should I be prohibited from being down there. Yeah, I walked along the sidelines. Yeah, I was in the team area. Why not? I didn’t feel like I should be sitting up in a press box, sitting there like some Jesus watching all the worshippers in front of me. But that was, you know, you learned to just let that roll off your back. Didn’t do a good job of letting it roll off my back a number of times. Now that I’m older [laughs], I think I’d do it differently, but I would still be on the field. I had gotten to the point, Mark, that I really had had enough. We were playing the Rams. And I think we had a chance to kick a field goal and win our division and Bum [Phillips] made the decision not to kick a field goal, but to go for it, and we didn’t make it. And I’ve never quite understood that. I thought, you know, “This is not that much fun anymore. It’s time to go.”

[Male announcer: There are no flags and we have only two seconds left. And look at that scene with the Rams. And now look at the other scene. It looked like a grenade has gone off in the New Orleans quarters. They’re all stretched out on the ground, they can’t believe what has happened to them.]

Mecom: It was a wonderful road traveled, to have had the ball club. I do, honestly, if I had a regret, it’s not being older. And handling it differently, a little differently at times. If you walk through the Quarter or you walk through anywhere, people couldn’t be nicer. Now, they’d come up and give you an earful, but after it was over, it was, “Thank you for bringing the franchise here. Thank you for helping us get the franchise.” I appreciated that very much.

[“When the Saints Go Marching In” by Rebirth Brass Band plays.]