The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league’s National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The team was founded by John W. Mecom Jr., David Dixon, and the city of New Orleans on November 1, 1966. The Saints began play in Tulane Stadium in 1967.
The name “Saints” is an allusion to November 1 being All Saints Day in the Catholic faith, as well as to the fact that the franchise was founded on that date; it also refers to the Superdome’s location on Basin Street, known as “the street of the saints”. They are one of only two NFL teams to have never played a home game outside their current home state (the other is Green Bay). They have played 10 games against each NFC South opponent since its inception in 2002; they play every NFC South opponent twice during this time frame with two additional games against rotating opponents from either NFC East or AFC West divisions.
The Atlanta Falcons are currently seen as their biggest rivals due largely to geographical reasons and recent success; both teams have won their respective divisional titles five times since 2006 with Atlanta winning four times and New Orleans winning once during that span.
