Anything’s possible for Saints in ‘Year of the 6’

Not trying to sound an alarm on the eve of training camp, but if history is any indication, the New Orleans Saints could be in for an intriguing season in 2016. Why? Because the year ends in the numeral 6.

As in the Crazy 6s.

Of course, the Saints were conceived in 1966 when the NFL awarded its 16^th franchise to the city of New Orleans and majority stockholder/president John Mecom. The price? A pre-arranged expansion fee of $7.5 million, a sizable chunk of money back then but a mere pittance by today’s standards.

That euphoric moment provided a dramatic bump to the local sports landscape and set the tone for what has transpired every 10 years subsequently.

Consider:

• In 1976, the Saints made Hank Stram — the same Hank Stram who guided the Kansas City Chiefs to an upset win over Minnesota in Super Bowl IV at Tulane Stadium — the club’s fifth head coach.
• In 1986, new owner Tom Benson named iconic Jim Finks president/general manager and gave him a piece of the team. Finks promptly plucked unheralded Jim Mora out of the upstart USFL and made him the club’s 10^th head coach.
• In 1996, Mora abruptly resigned 10 games into his 10^th season, ending the longest tenured coaching reign in all of professional sports at the time. Under Mora, the Saints posted their first winning season (1987) and went to the postseason for the first time in franchise history (’87). Defensive assistant Rick Venturi became interim head coach.
• In 2006, one day after completing a nomadic season based in San Antonio, Texas, because of the widespread devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, coach Jim Haslett was dismissed after a 3-13 record. On Jan. 18, 2006, GM Mickey Loomis hired promising NFL assistant Sean Payton as the club’s 14^th head coach. On March 14, 2006, the Saints signed free-agent quarterback Drew Brees and his surgically-repaired throwing shoulder to a five-year contract. The newly-renovated Superdome reopened its doors to a national audience on Sept, 25, 2006, with an emotionally charged 23-3 win over the Atlanta Falcons. With Payton and Brees on board, the Saints bounced back to win the NFC West in ’06 and the team’s first playoff game and advanced to the NFC championship.

Now, 10 years later, another Saints season ending in “6’’ is upon us.

The Black and Gold embark on their 50^th season, beginning Wednesday when the team reports to The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, W. Va., for the start of their summer training camp.

Few national pundits/prognosticators paint a rosy picture, most forecasting between five-to-10 wins and the team likely missing the playoffs for the fourth time in the last five years.

Time will tell what the ’16 season will bring.

A change at quarterback, perhaps. The 37-year-old Brees enters camp in the final year of a five-year, $100 million contract, suggesting the two sides are willing to roll the dice and see what develops at season’s end.

Perhaps, there could be a passing of the ownership torch to the Saints’ First Lady of Football, Gayle Marie Benson, since Tom Benson is battling health issues and advancing in age.

Maybe the Saints will suddenly discover a dependable defense and claim a second Lombardi Trophy.

Anything is possible.

After all, it’s the Year of the Crazy 6s.

This story was originally published July 26, 2016 at 5:37 PM with the headline "Anything’s possible for Saints in ‘Year of the 6’."