Super Bowl atmosphere, perfect finish in Big Easy

NEW ORLEANS -- Sporting a flaming light gold suit and dark top hat that stood tall and stiff on his head, Joe Horn sauntered into the Superdome several hours before kickoff as he has done many times before. This day, however, was different.

WR Joe Horn has become a favorite in New Orleans. (Getty Images)

Horn, along with superstar Reggie Bush, has been adopted by the city as favorite sons, cherished for their charity work in post-Hurricane Katrina. In reaching out, Horn and Bush did not send checks from the safety of their estates or dispatch bubbly flaks to do their PR work. They got their hands dirty. They dropped in on pulverized neighborhoods, handed out food and rebuilt lives.

The Saints arranged for players to take a different way into the stadium than normal, one that had them walk purposely through a gauntlet of fans. When Horn approached wearing his pimp daddy fits circa Etta James, he stopped several times to accept dozens of pats on the back and high-fives from fans leaning over a security barricade to touch their hands on a hero.

On this night, a night unlike any other in sports history, the New Orleans Saints players were the rock stars, bigger celebrities than even mega-groups U2 and Green Day, who performed onstage together prior to the Saints facing Atlanta in a tribute to the city of New Orleans.

The game itself, almost lost in the nuclear intensity that was the Superdome's reopening, was destined to end up just one way -- and it did, but it was New Orleans winning 23-3 before 70,003 wildly geeked fans.

The Falcons stepped in the way of history and were squashed.

As if scripted by some otherworldly force, the Saints are 3-0. Just how un-freakin'-believable is that?

"The fans were great," said Horn. "We knew they would be here in force to support us and we didn't want to let them down.

"I was focused on the job at hand, but I was also focused on the emotion of the fans," said Horn. "If I had witnessed what happened here at the dome, I probably wouldn't have come back."

Horn said he in fact spoke to fans that were trapped inside the quickly decaying dome during Katrina who would not come back because the memories were still too fresh. They planned to watch the game on television.

The Saints were powered by an emotional, almost nationalistic sunburst. No team might have beaten the Saints on this night. Not the 1960s Green Bay Packers or the Joe Montana San Francisco 49ers. No team.

When the game was over, about 50,000 fans remained in the stands, dancing and cheering for several minutes. Coach Sean Payton dedicated a game ball to the Saints fans.

"We said, 'The only way this night was going to be special was if we win this game,'" said quarterback Drew Brees.