DESTREHAN, LA (WVUE) – Not many New Orleans Saints fans can say they\u2019ve seen nearly every snap, tackle, throw and play, but Destrehan resident Calvin Anderson can. <\/p>\n
\u201cI probably made 99 percent of the home games,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Anderson has been a season-ticket holder since 1968, when he bought seats to Saints games at 18 years old, right after graduating from high school. And now, at 77 years old, he still stays glued to his seats, whether in the Superdome or at an away game. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been to Atlanta a couple of times. We love to beat them Dirty Birds,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Anderson\u2019s love of the Saints has been passed down through the generations — first to his siblings, then to his children and finally to his grandchildren. And over the years, he\u2019s made sure to bring as many loved ones he can to the Dome on Saints Sundays. <\/p>\n
\u201cI would never let my tickets go to waste. Someone had to go with my ticket,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
And through the hundreds of games he\u2019s been to over the decades, it was Super Bowl XLIV that stood out the most. He was in the stands in Miami as quarterback Drew Brees led the franchise to its first and only championship. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe just knew Drew was going into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and I said when that happens, I want to be there,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Since the Super Bowl win in 2010, Anderson anticipated a boys\u2019 trip to Canton, Ohio, to one day see Brees immortalized among football\u2019s best. And when news came down that Brees was going into the hall this year, word of that boys trip spread rapidly among his Who Dat-loving family. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey said, that would be a great trip, \u2018Can we go? Can we go?\u2019 Sure! Sure!\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Anderson says that, almost overnight, the original 12-person boys\u2019 trip to the Hall of Fame turned into a 26-person pilgrimage of family members, including his grandson, Conner McNamara. <\/p>\n
\u201cEverything is better when you experience it with family,\u201d McNamara said. \u201cBeing able to go with my grandpa, and my mom, and my aunt, and my brothers… it\u2019s just a surreal experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
McNamara says he\u2019s blessed to take the family trip to Ohio for the weekend\u2014eager to see Brees make football history 15 years after he, at 6 years old, and his grandfather saw him make Saints history together at Super Bowl XLIV. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor my first day as a Saints fan until now, I\u2019ve watched Drew Brees,\u201d McNamara said. <\/p>\n
For Anderson, the trip is another way to cheer on one of his favorite players from his favorite team\u2014as a family… <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to be making a lot of noise like good Cajun Saints fans. We are going to be cheering on Drew. He will know that we are there,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
And McNamara says the love of the Black and Gold will stick with the family for generations to come.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a family experience. I hope stuff like this gets passed down to my kids and grandkids when the time comes,\u201d McNamara said. <\/p>\n
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