[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]
I really shouldn’t be painting my favorite Saints players. I paint chickadees and pelicans and hummingbirds– quiet little things that don’t really care much for football or the community it creates. I don’t have many words right now, so my truly gifted and wonderful friend Jennifer Smith Richard graciously allowed me to borrow her words which articulate so powerfully what so many of us decades-long Saints are feeling. Last night she wrote:
I’ve been a Saints fan long enough to remember a lot of things.
I remember the Aints and the paper bags. I remember listening to the game on the radio because we didn’t sell enough tickets for the game to be televised.
I vividly remember “Shoulda, woulda, coulda.”
“Shoulda.” What a concept tonight. The refs shoulda made that call. We shoulda won. We shoulda made it to the Superbowl tonight.
But this city isn’t built on “shouldas.” It’s built on shouldn’ts.
On paper, Drew Brees shouldn’t be the GOAT. Announcers love to tell us his age, his height, the improbability of his greatness. They scratch their heads at his accuracy. They love to say he shouldn’t be able to do it, but week after week, he does. He definitely shouldn’t have come to play for us, a city with its back broken, a losing franchise, a home stadium haunted by tragedy. He shoulda taken one look and run, but he didn’t. He stayed, and he’s the greatest QB to ever play the game. He’s the MVP of the league no matter what.
We have a history of players who shouldn’t have succeeded. They were too small or too old. They weren’t drafted, or they were free agents. But Payton knows what he’s looking for, and knows when he sees it. Season after season, he proves it. He’s built legends out of players that other teams overlooked, players whose careers shoulda ended.
In 2006, Gleason shouldn’t have been able to block that punt, but he did. In 09, a lot of people thought Hartley wouldn’t hit that fleur de lis, but he did. And the on-side kick in the Superbowl? C’mon. That shouldn’t have worked . . . Except it did.
They’ll say we shouldn’t have a parade to celebrate this season . . . but we will.
The refs shouldn’t have taken that game away from us tonight, but we’re a city that knows what to do with shouldn’t. We shouldn’t ever give up hope. After all, I grew up hearing, “There’s always next season.”
There’s always next season. And Goodell, the NFL, and the world shouldn’t count us out.
Who dat.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_sidebar admin_label=”Sidebar” orientation=”left” area=”sidebar-1″ background_layout=”light” remove_border=”off” /][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]
January 21, 2019
Share Post
One of the first things I remember learning as a child was the concept of patterns. Teachers seemed to be...
After kicking off 2024 with a (mostly) small painting a day in my annual 31 in 31 practice, I was...
“If You Want to go Far” 24×30 inches, oil on canvas I started this month with a bike, and...
Become a member and enjoy early access to new releases, exclusive discounts, and a new wallpaper for your computer or tablet. Elevate your art journey with us.
This following document sets forth the Privacy Policy for this website. We are bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Crh), which sets out a number of principles concerning the privacy of individuals using this website.
We collect Non-Personally Identifiable Information from visitors to this Website. Non-Personally Identifiable Information is information that cannot by itself be used to identify a particular person or entity, and may include your IP host address, pages viewed, browser type, Internet browsing and usage habits, advertisements that you click on, Internet Service Provider, domain name, the time/date of your visit to this Website, the referring URL and your computer’s operating system.
Participation in providing your email address in return for an offer from this site is completely voluntary and the user therefore has a choice whether or not to disclose your information. You may unsubscribe at any time so that you will not receive future emails.
Your personal information that we collect as a result of you purchasing our products & services, will NOT be shared with any third party, nor will it be used for unsolicited email marketing or spam. We may send you occasional marketing material in relation to our design services. What Information Do We Collect? If you choose to correspond with us through email, we may retain the content of your email messages together with your email address and our responses.