Joan Breaux, our Ultimate Saints Fan, hasn't missed a home game in 50 years
New Orleans Saints fan Joan Breaux, 81, hasn't missed a home game in 50 seasons. (Photo courtesy Breaux family)
By Pat Mashburn
on November 01, 2016
Meet our Ultimate Saints Fan, Joan Breaux.
*****
It was like opening a Christmas present that seemed too good to be true.
"I'd never been to an NFL game in another city before, and we were getting a team here in New Orleans," Saints fan Joan Breaux said. "I just couldn't believe it."
But the news was true, as Commissioner Pete Rozelle made the long-awaited official announcement at a press conference Nov. 1, 1966, at the Pontchartrain Hotel.
And the now 81-year-old Breaux and her family wasted no time in getting their season tickets for the inaugural season in Tulane Stadium.
She was in that number when Tom Dempsey kicked a 63-yard field goal to defeat the Detroit Lions 19-17 on Nov. 8, 1970. They were some of the last fans to leave the stadium that day.
"We were always the first to get to the game and the last to leave," she recalled. "Most people were outside the stadium already when they heard the noise."
And she's been in that number at every home game -- and many road games -- for 50 years.
With six children, 12 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren, surely she missed out on a major family event to attend a game, right?
Her daughter, JoAnn Loupe, who nominated Breaux as the Ultimate Saints Fan, laughed.
"She literally asked her children, 'Please don't get get married, have a child or a (bridal or baby) shower during a Saints game,'" Loupe said. "And we all took her seriously."
Her children look back fondly at the memories their family created because of the Saints. Among their favorite moments, they listed:
*Being allowed to stay up late to meet the team plane at the airport, back when fans were allowed on the tarmac to seek autographs
*Eating lunch in the cemetary before walking to Tulane Stadium before kickoff
*Packing the family Volkswagon "Saints van" with neighbors and friends to ride to the games
Breaux, a New Orleans native who lives in Luling but keeps a weekend condo in the city, and Loupe said that their family road trips are where the best memories are made.
"When you travel, you get to greet the players and see their families," Breaux said. "We've met Steve Gleason, Deuce McAllister, Roman Harper ... He's a real gentleman."
Loupe said the players often seek out Breaux on the road, and Michael Lewis once texted her pictures from a San Francisco trip she didn't make.
Another player the Breaux family grew close to was the late Will Smith.
The tribute came two days after both were posthumously honored Friday during the Saints Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
"He would always ask us what away games we'd try to go to," Breaux said. "We miss him a lot. He was such a kind person and treated us like part of his family."
One of her fondest memories was the first game back in the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina, against the Atlanta Falcons.
"It was about much more than football," Breaux said. "It was about a city coming back."
Loupe said that her mom had one item on her bucket list, and it was to see the Saints win the Super Bowl. It meant just as much to her family to see her, along with husband Charlie, have that opportunity.
"It was pure joy knowing our parents were still alive when the Saints went to the Super Bowl," Loupe said. "And that they got to go to Miami to the Super Bowl and watch the Saints win? Nothing compares!"
As for the team's chances of getting back to the Super Bowl, Breaux is still a believer.
"As long as we have Drew Brees and Sean Payton, anything is possible."
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