When the New Orleans Saints made history and won the NFC Championship Sunday night, Louis Fitzmorris, Abita Springs mayor and dedicated Saints fan, was in that number.

When asked if he had attended the game, Fitzmorris said, “Oh, gee wiz, I was there. Where else would I have been?”

Fitzmorris and his wife, Tawyna, have been season ticket holders for some years now, but he said there was something special about Sunday night’s game.

Abita Springs Mayor Louis Fitzmorris shows his Saints spirit while handling town business Monday afternoon. (Staff Photo by Suzanne Le Breton)

That something special was bigger than the fact that the game win declared the Saints champions in their conference; it also secured the Saint’s place in the Super Bowl XLIV.

A true “Who Dat” at heart, Fitzmorris said he never gave up faith that he would one day see a Black and Gold Super Bowl.

“For us that truly believe, this is a day we’ve been waiting on for years,” he said.

He said he always knew the Saints would make it to the “promised land.”

Fitzmorris, who has never been shy about wearing his black and gold and sporting fleur de is ties and other Saints paraphernalia, made his, and his town’s, support official last week when the Abita Springs Board of Aldermen approved a resolution he had prepared supporting the Saints and declaring Abita Springs as a “proud member of the Who Dat Nation.”

He described the atmosphere in the Super Dome during the game as “electric.”

“I have been there for a lot of good games and this one was right there with the best of them,” Fitzmorris said, adding that the only comparison would be the day the Saints played for the first time in the Super Dome after Hurricane Katrina against the Atlanta Falcons in 2006.

He said the game was also very special for New Orleans because it gave many the hope needed to move past the storm. Sunday nights win, rejuvenated that hope and brought the once-torn city and its neighboring Northshore even closer together.

Fitzmorris said he fully expected to cry when the Saints beat the Minnesota Vikings Sunday night but somehow he managed to keep his eyes dry.

However, he said, many did not.

The mayor said the man who has sat behind him for years broke down and sobbed when Garrett Hartley kicked the 40-yard field goal in overtime that won the game.

He compared the people who own the sits around his as his “neighbors,” and said they cheered together and when it was over they hugged.

“These were no ‘hi, how are you’ hugs.’ These were full-body bear hugs,” he said. “Everyone was ecstatic.”

And what about Miami?

“I’m trying to get tickets,” The mayor said Monday morning. His name will be in the lottery to be able to purchase game tickets from the NFL.

“If it is meant to be, it’s meant to be, but I am hoping it’s meant to be.”

However, he said, if he is not able to obtain tickets that way he’ll just have to sit this one out.

“I can’t afford to pay black market prices on my mayor’s salary,” he said.

He and his wife were still undecided if they would travel to Miami without tickets just to be in the same city as the big game when the Saints Going Marching In to the Sun Life Stadium on Feb. 7.