Local Saints fans have variety of memories

By Austin Bishop

There is no one cord that weaves through the Attala County fans of the New Orleans Saints and binds them together.

For Louisiana native Xochie Doty, it's a life-long tradition of eating popcorn on Sunday afternoons while watching the Saints that was handed down by her family.

For 45-year-old Daniel Simmons it was a faithful night in 1979 when New Orleans blew a 35-14 lead to lose to his beloved Oakland Raiders. As strange as it may seem, that game got his attention, igniting a 31-year love affair with the Saints.

For Carolyn Smith, a die-hard Mississippi State fan, it was when Ole Miss quarterback Archie Manning joined the fledgling franchise in 1971.

And while former Kosciusko resident Anne Pinkerton has been a Saints fan since the team's inception in 1967, she can hardly think of the Saints without churning up memories of her friend and fellow Saints fan Debbie Lawrence, who died in 1995.

"When the game was over Sunday I just cried," said Pinkerton, who now lives near Coldwater. "I was laughing and crying at the same time. She (Debbie) would have been just like me — estatic."

Pinkerton and Lawrence would make an annual trip to watch the Saints play the hated Atlanta Falcons in the Louisiana Superdome each season.

"We would go down there and paint fleur de lis (the symbol on the Saints helmets) on our faces and stomp our feet and scream until we couldn't talk," Pinkerton said.

One of the classic games in the Saints-Falcons series occurred on Nov. 12, 1978 when Atlanta won in New Orleans on a hail-marry pass dubbed "The Big Ben."

It just so happened Pinkerton was in the hospital and wasn't able to go. But don't think for a minute she wasn't watching the game.

"I was at the hospital and I just started screaming (when the Falcons beat the Saints on the last play of the game)," she said. "I had four nurses come running into my room to see what was wrong. They couldn't believe I was watching a football game."

Doty, who was born in Alexandria, La., lived most of her youth in the New Orleans area.

"My dad had season tickets," she said. "He kept them up until this year, of all things."

While Doty never got a chance to see Saints great Archie Manning play, she remembers clearly who she couldn't wait to get her eyes on when she attended her first game at the age of 12.

"My friend and I had binoculars and we were there to check out Morten Anderson," she said of the former Saints place-kicker. "That's what we were most interested in."

While Doty would love to be in Miami for the Super Bowl this weekend when the Saints take on the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV — that's 44 for the non-Roman speaking readers — she said she's pretty satisfied with not being in the French Quarter while the game is going on.

"It would be a lot of fun (to be in New Orleans), but I don't think I would want to be there (on Bourbon Street). It could get crazy. If the officials had reversed those calls (against the Saints) last week, they would have never gotten out of the Superdome alive."

While Doty no longer sits next to her parents during the games, she is passing down the tradition.

"My 12-year-old daughter Cheyenne and I eat popcorn and watch them every Sunday, just like I did with my family growing up," she said. "She really gets into it."

While White and her husband Steve began following the Saints because of Archie Manning, they now have a different favorite they follow.

"We're Jeremy Shockey fans," she said of the hulking tattoo-laden tight end. "Santa Claus got him (Steve) a Jeremy Shockey t-shirt for Christmas."

Despite 40 years of following the Saints, the Whites have never attended a Saints game. "We would love to one day, but for now, we'll just be happy to watch them in the Super Bowl on TV," White said. And don't think for a minute she's making excuses about how the Saints might lose.

"The Saints have been dogged and put down for so long that it's time for them to win," she said. "It is their time to rise and they are going to win," she said with a tone of voice that made it clear she would be willing to fight about the point if necessary.

It wasn't.

While Daniel and Donny Simmons will both be watching the Super Bowl this Sunday and both be very interested in the outcome of the game, the brothers won't be watching it together.

"That's an agreement we made," Daniel Simmons said. "He's a Colts fan. I just don't think it would be a good idea for us to be here together."

Simmons will be watching the game at home with his family. He said it's not such a good idea for him to watch the Saints out in public.

"Maybe I get too emotional," he said. "I really get into it. It's kind of ridiculous, but we are hard-core saints fans."

The odd thing is that up until 31 years ago Simmons was a fan of the Oakland Raiders. But following that crazy 42-35 loss by the Saints to the Raiders on Monday Night Football, Simmons switched allegiances and has never slowed down.

"I didn't know that I would ever see this day," he said, referring to the Saints playing in the Super Bowl. "But I can tell you on thing for sure, I'm not going to miss it."

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