It was a most unlikely success story, the Saints having finished the 1999 season with only three wins in sixteen games. But after three decades of frustration on the part of owners, coaches, players, and fans, the New Orleans Saints, overcoming inexperience and injuries in spectacular fashion, put together an exciting turnaround season in 2000.

When the final whistle blew, the Saints had won eleven games, including their first playoff victory ever; the head coach was named NFL Coach of the Year; and the general manager was voted the league’s Executive of the Year. One thing had become clear: the Saints had come marching in. This volume records, in text and photographs, the special elements that sustained that march.

About the Author and Photographer
Buddy Diliberto covered sports in New Orleans for half a century and wrote about the Saints since their inception. A graduate of Loyola University and former sportswriter for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, he conducted a nightly sports talk show on WWL Radio. He also hosted a weekly radio program with Coach Jim Haslett during the football season. Diliberto was named Louisiana Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association twelve times.

New Orleans native Michael C. Hebert serves as director of photography for the Saints. A graduate of Tulane University, he has photographed major sporting events and personalities throughout the nation for the past sixteen years.

WHEN THE SAINTS CAME MARCHING IN
By Buddy Diliberto
Photography by Michael C. Hebert
128 pp. 8½ x 11 115 color photos
ISBN: 1-56554-927-9
EAN: 978-1-56554-927-2 hc