Falcons fans: Are you rooting for or against the Saints?
The Falcons have been going against the Saints forever. So should Falcons fans be pulling for Indianapolis? (Curtis Compton/AJC)
Had an interesting exchange last night with Falcons coach Mike Smith, when I spoke to him about two conference championship games. At one point, I asked Smith if he had any feelings about the New Orleans franchise finally making it to the Super Bowl.
“No, not really,” Smith said.
So the whole thing about the tormented franchise . . .
“No.”
This wasn’t surprising, I suppose. Smith coaches the Falcons. Football coaches don’t get emotional about other team’s conquests, particularly when the other team is a division rival. (The Falcons lost two close meetings this season). But I was wondering: How do Falcons fans feel about this?
In the live blog off championship Sunday, several Falcons fans chimed in, saying no true Falcons fan should be pulling for the Saints. Maybe because I didn’t grow up here, I can’t relate to the hate in the rivalry. Plus, I’ve never gotten a sense of that “hate” in annual Falcons-Saints games that I do Georgia-Florida, Georgia-Georgia Tech and even Braves-Mets.
Question: Am I wrong for liking the fact the Saints finally made it, especially with the backdrop of the problems in the city of New Orleans? How to do you feel about the Saints being in the Super Bowl, and will you be pulling for them or Indianapolis?
Let me know what you think and I’ll check back.
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307 comments Add your comment
florida falcon
January 25th, 2010
6:57 pm
F the aints’ Go Payton!!!!!
hiramsaint
January 25th, 2010
7:03 pm
what a bunch of pathetic losers y’all are . get used to this feeling cause it’s gonna stick around fer a spell. can’t wait to smack ryan and his sensative skin around the way we did to warner and favre.
Steve C
January 25th, 2010
7:07 pm
How can any Falcon fan root for a division rival? That’s like a Cowboys fan rooting for the Eagles or a Packer fan rooting for the Bears. It just ain’t right. Go Colts, do what Brett “The Heimlich” Favre couldn’t!
Steve C
January 25th, 2010
7:12 pm
Hey Hiram Saint, this is the most asinine statement I’ve seen in a while:
“what a bunch of losers to go 9-7{while the jets rested players)”
Typical revisionist history crap from you. Sanchez started, Thomas Jones started,Shonn Greene started, Braylon Edwards and Jerricho Cotchery and Dustin Keller started, Lito Sheppard and Darrelle Revis started. Where did you pull “while the Jets rested players” from? This is as ridiculous as someone saying the Saints won yesterday because the Vikings rested players.
Enjoy the postseason and your Superbowl loss. At least the Falcons went 12 years before the Who Dats. Get your paper bag ready.
Steve C
January 25th, 2010
7:19 pm
Hiram Saint,
“While the Jets rested players”??? Name one Jets starter of significance that “rested” against the Falcons. Sanchez, Thomas Jones, Shonn Greene, Jerrico Cotchery, Braylon Edwards, Dustin Keller, Darrelle Revis all started. That is like someone saying the Saints won because the Vikings rested all their starters…
hiramsaint
January 25th, 2010
7:22 pm
yeah the jets rested. they saw how the playoffs were shaping up. a blind man could’ve saw they took it easy that game ..OR ..are the falcons so good they could beat the team playing for the afc championship .. oh yeah, that second one must be it
bp
January 25th, 2010
7:25 pm
I have no problem with the saints i wish them well.But i think the colts are gonna dominate
Falkonfan
January 25th, 2010
7:33 pm
There is no set of circumstances in the universe that could ever allow a Falcons fan to root for the Saints or any other divisional opponent at any time.
STH for 7yrs!
hiramsaint
January 25th, 2010
7:33 pm
anamarie sais the saints will SWEEP the falcans AGAIN next year just like this past year cause y’all have a qb with sensative skin.
ATL-67
January 25th, 2010
7:35 pm
No way am I going to cheer for the saints. And I am somewhat reluctant to do so for the Colts as the QB for them is the son of Archie.
ALB FALCON
January 25th, 2010
7:39 pm
No way in the world should any Falcon Fan be pulling for the Saints….. If it isn’t ATL representing the NFC South then no one Represents the NFC South…. Peyton… Manning that is beat these boys to a pulp……
Shon
January 25th, 2010
7:41 pm
Let me get this straight. You want to know if we will cheer for a divisional rival. I know football season is near the end….but there are other sports you can talk about than this simple mided blog post.
However, I am in no way rooting for the Saits. And I will never visit New Orleans again. How can I root for a team and a city that is so concentrated on football, when half the d@m$ city is still not over Katrina. All I hear is this is what this city needs. Stop worrying about football and concentrate more on getting your city back and putting roofs over people’s headds and get them out of the trailers you still have parked all over your city! DISGRACE!!!!!!!!
hiramsaint
January 25th, 2010
7:48 pm
shon, i just let n.o. know your not coming to visit again. they didn’t know who you were!
Aaron
January 25th, 2010
7:54 pm
I want the Saints to win because I like watching Peyton Manning blame his teammates when he loses, but then again, I like him on SNL, and if he wins, I would expect him to be back on there….so I’m kinda torn…
hiramsaint
January 25th, 2010
8:02 pm
a tid-bit , peyton is from n.o. and addia played at lsu so louisiana wins either way
BIOMASS
January 25th, 2010
8:06 pm
I am so glad NO is finally going to a Superbowl. I hope they win, but if they don’t, I don’t mind Peyton getting another notch towards the best QB of all time.
NO is like Atlanta’s younger brother. Atlanta 1966, New Orleans 1967. The teams were fired in the same crucible. Same crappy, unfair draft rules and team formation.
As HORRIBLE as the Falcons have been over the decades, they seemed to always come out on top of the Saints. Although NO managed to put back to back winning seasons ahead of the Falcons. When did they do that?
Once "Recent" Reader
January 25th, 2010
8:06 pm
Dolfan – I don’t remember the Fins being in Super Bowl after Hurricane Andrew – actually I guess they haven’t been there since Undefeated season. I think some anti-fans actually may have been less hateful – if not rooting for the Yankees after 9/11. (I’m a Red Sox fan and can honestly say my feelings for Yanks “softened” a bit that year – as many Red Sox fans have good friends that were hurting in NYC area.) So maybe you should wait for answer to your question before applying the “liars” label. Now winning Super Bowl will not have any big impact on bring back the Big Easy – but I know a lot of folks there will be feeling better for a little while at least. I’ve always liked the Falcs but not from Atlanta nor have I lived in GA – so no real animosity toward Saints – and cannot give a real assessment on how folks in the region feel about the Saints. Hope for a good game and really don’t care right now who wins. I’m sure I’ll find myself rooting for one of the teams during the game.
tell it like it is
January 25th, 2010
8:11 pm
Been a falcon fan since 1966.Since being a Falcon fan i allways pull for the underdog.GOOOOOO saints the other southern team.
hiramsaint
January 25th, 2010
8:25 pm
finally some non haters. we really did pull for y’all in ‘98. that was then and now is now. i don’t understand all the hatred here. growing up in n.o. there was some but i never saw real hatred ’till i moved here. this city seems to have no pesonality of it’s own and maybe it’s because of all the hatred here. the civil war is over and black americans can vote so move on atlanta and join the rest of the country
Good Grief
January 25th, 2010
8:25 pm
A friendly rivalry??? Is this a joke? This rivalry is anything but that, and this is why people laugh at the city of Atlanta when it comes to sports. I bet Saints fans don’t view this rivalry the same way. I’ll be pulling for the Colts to skunk the Saints by at least 24 points.
JEFF
January 25th, 2010
8:25 pm
bagheads suck
hiramsaint
January 25th, 2010
8:27 pm
we wore them in case your old lady showed up JEFF
BIOMASS
January 25th, 2010
8:29 pm
Saints back to back winning seasons:
The FIRST time were the 1987 and 1988 seasons! Man o man.
They did it again in 1991 and 1992.
tell it like it is
January 25th, 2010
8:39 pm
Don’t get me wrong Hiramsaint. i am jelous ya’ll are going to the superbowl and we are going to the couch.
BIOMASS
January 25th, 2010
8:48 pm
From pro-reference-football.com, since 1966…….
The Falcons have winning records against TWO teams, the Panthers and the Saints.
The Saints, also two. The Jets and Lions.
hiramsaint
January 25th, 2010
8:54 pm
it’s okay to be jealous just don’t be bitter
Pants on the Ground
January 25th, 2010
8:55 pm
Well I hope there’s still someone here that might be reading this. I applaude the saints effort to make it to the big game but… I see payton m. slicing and dicing the saints’ defense to pieces. Mr. Manning has too much playoff experience. He can read defenses like no other qb today. The colts are on a roll. Minnesota almost won even with all the turnovers. That shows you how bad the N.O. defense is. If it wasn’t for brees and the N.O. offense scoring 50 points a game, they wouldn’t have made it to the playoffs with that defense. Sorry, but it will be the colts by at least three touchdowns. I think Brett Favre should end his career as a falcon.
Johnny DangerDawg
January 25th, 2010
9:02 pm
I was born in Atlanta and raised in the suburbs. I just moved to Nola 1.5 years ago for grad school, and I’m tellin y’all, you got to root for the Saints. This city needs this so bad you guys don’t even know. This has nothing to do with Katrina. Wave after wave of corrupt local politicians (who make Bill Campbell look like King Arthur) have messed up this city so bad that the only reason to live here is for the people’s ability to party like nobody else.
After this big win, people picked up their musical instruments and formed impromptu marching bands, parading through the streets with random people dancing behind them. I can promise you the people of no other city would appreciate a championship more than these folks in New Orleans.
Pulling for the Saints right now and the Falcons next year!
Pants on the Ground
January 25th, 2010
9:05 pm
Truthfully, the saints don’t have a chance with that defense.
Pants on the Ground
January 25th, 2010
9:11 pm
I am a true falcon fan. I really don’t like the saints or the colts for that matter but I watch just about all the games and the saints are way under matched in all the match ups.
BIOMASS
January 25th, 2010
9:21 pm
My point is, if you’re a Falcons fan and hate the Saints, you have a pile of hatred to deal with. Every single team in the NFL has kicked Falcon ass for decades except for the Saints and Panthers. The Panthers had only been around for 14 years.
EEJacket
January 25th, 2010
9:24 pm
GO. COLTS. Saints fans are some of the most classless, loud, rude, and disrespectful group of people I have ever had the displeasure of being around. Maybe it doesn’t help that I’m a bucs fan (ya, ya, I know, what right do I have to be talking smack, but at least us bucs can win and lose like sportsman). I’m happy for the team, but I will be loudly rooting against “WHO DAT NATION” as they so gracefully dub themselves.
Shon
January 25th, 2010
9:50 pm
hiramsaint – I-D-I-O-T. Enough said !
shawty
January 25th, 2010
10:36 pm
Colts all the way!!!!
Brian
January 25th, 2010
11:28 pm
I loathe everything about the Saints. Their silly ” Who Dat” chant, the banana on their helmet, ( That’s what it looked like to me as a 5 year old. ) and the lovable loser status all make me nauseous. Now they are everyones darling because of Katrina. Well, the Fed did send them money years prior to fix the levies but local government used the cash for vote buying projects. Pathetic city, no other way around it. I hope Manning runs up the score. That will still bug me though, because his daddy was a Saint. Oh yeah, when the Falcons got Bobby Hebert, Morten Anderson and Jim Mora Jr. I was disgusted as well. No one associated with the Saints should be allowed the honor of being a Falcon.
Tweets that mention Falcons fans: Are you rooting for or against the Saints? | Jeff Schultz -- Topsy.com
January 26th, 2010
3:07 am
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Glenda
January 26th, 2010
8:09 am
I don’t hate the Saints, but I’m rooting for the Colts!
Glenda
January 26th, 2010
8:09 am
Enter your comments here
Angela
January 26th, 2010
8:28 am
Let the Saints win and next year the Falcons can brag about beating the Super Bowl champs!! GO FALCONS!!
AtlTiger
January 26th, 2010
8:38 am
Geaux Saints Geaux!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Steve C
January 26th, 2010
8:39 am
“yeah the jets rested. they saw how the playoffs were shaping up. a blind man could’ve saw they took it easy that game”
Hiramsaint, this is proof that you never let the truth get in the way of whatever you want to say. The Jets were 7-6 heading into the Falcons game and had to play Indianapolis and Cincinnati the two games fafter that. Are you saying that the Jets were so confident they were going to make the playoffs at 7-6 with two conference games to go that they mailed it in against the Falcons? I would say that your Saints mailed it in against Dallas, Tampa Bay, and Carolina.
Steve C
January 26th, 2010
8:40 am
At least we went to our Super Bowl 12 years before the bag heads.
Gravedigger
January 26th, 2010
9:24 am
If I looked like most of the saints fans I would wear a bag over my head also. GO COLTS!!
GEAUXSAINTS
January 26th, 2010
1:33 pm
1. The FEMA comment was totally out of line and the most naive comment I have read since UGA held up signs during LSU/UGA at Athens in Fall 2005 stating “Go back to your home.. oh wait, you don’t have one.” Classy, Georgia, classy.
2. Per observation at this year’s game in Atlanta, Saints fans may be dirty (heck, most of us are LSU fans) but the only thing worse than a Saints fan is a Falcons fan.
3. Sean Payton, Drew Brees, Marques Colston, Reggie Bush and Jeremy Shockey are the best things to happen to NOLA since Port of Call and Pat O’Brien’s. It’s finally our time to represent the NFC (South) in the Superbowl.. don’t you support your conference in the NCAA National Championship even if your team isn’t playing? Grow up. You lost this year. There is always next and I will be right beside you cheering for the Falcons if the Saints lose out next season.
THE CURSE OF BRETT FAVRE LIVES IN ATL
January 27th, 2010
6:55 pm
NO HATE FOR THE AINTS I MEAN THE SAINTS! BUT PEYTON AINT LOSING!
carol72
January 27th, 2010
6:59 pm
Rooting for the Saints. Reggie Bush is my favorite player. I love when a team whose never won the Super Bowl gets a chance. Maybe next year will be the Falcon’s chance.
Tom Pridemore
January 27th, 2010
7:41 pm
Maybe next year will be the Falcon’s chance, but as for the saints, GO COLTS!!!
Balloon Knot
January 28th, 2010
1:40 pm
I’m a big time Falcons fan, and an fan of my hometownn Atlanta sports franchises in general, but the Saints have never been hated I don’t think…I hate teams like the Patriots, Jets and of course f’ing UF much more…You can throw the Cubs, Mets and Red Sox in there for good measure too…While a rivalry it is, Saints fans are generally cool and fun to be around, not to mention you gotta like Drew Brees and the New Orleans story if they win…that said I’m pulling for Peyton to win his 2nd ring just bc I know Pat fan will hate it LOL…Peyton > Brady in talent and QB skills
JP
January 30th, 2010
5:34 pm
Lived in Atlanta for 20 years and cheered the Falcons in 1998..why am i not surprised so many Failcons fans today won’t do the same? The heck with all of ya.
GO SAINTS!!
Jim
January 31st, 2010
12:32 am
Hope the Saints win but stop the Katrina crap. In an area with productive citizens it would be forgotten by now.