On November 1, 1966 the NFL officially sanctioned a new franchise to be created in New Orleans. Since November 1 is "All Saints Day" the new franchise adopted "Saints" as its nickname.

I'll never forget that day. We were playing touch football in the street, as we often did, and a neighbor pulls into his driveway in his Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser station-wagon, and Mr. Frank gets out and yells to us, "we have a football team!" He had just heard the announcement on the radio. Just about the whole neighborhood got season tickets, which my parents held until 1985.