The Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints played a National Football League (NFL) regular season game on September 25, 2006, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. Part of the Falcons–Saints rivalry, the game took place in Week 3 of the 2006 NFL season.
The game was the first at the Superdome since 2004, after which the stadium was severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina. In a win regarded as symbolic of the city's recovery following the disaster, the Saints defeated the Falcons 23–3. The first touchdown of the game came on the first series when Saints safety Steve Gleason blocked Michael Koenen's punt, which was recovered by cornerback Curtis Deloatch in the end zone.
Due to the emotional circumstances and how it revitalized New Orleans, it is nicknamed the "Rebirth" game and "Domecoming". A statue of the blocked punt is on display outside the Superdome.
Background
The Louisiana Superdome opened in 1975 as a multi-purpose stadium for a variety of tenants, chiefly the Saints.
In late August 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the New Orleans area. It was one of the strongest and most destructive hurricanes in American history, resulting in 1,392 fatalities with the majority in the state of Louisiana. Approximately 100,000 people were trapped in the city due to a failed evacuation. The Superdome was designated as a "shelter of last resort", but the venue became overcrowded with evacuees. Once Katrina made landfall, the stadium sustained severe damage as 70% of the roof failed, while the air conditioning, water supply, and emergency generators were disabled. Severe flooding led to 3.8 million gallons of water having to be pumped out along with 4,000 tons of trash from sewage.
Living conditions, including poor sanitation and a lack of resources, deteriorated over the next two days. Three people also died in the stadium. Those staying at the Superdome were subsequently relocated elsewhere by the end of the month.
The final Saints regular season game played at the Superdome prior to the hurricane was a 26–13 win over the Falcons on December 26, 2004. Their last regardless of season implication was in the 2005 preseason on August 26, less than three days before Katrina made landfall, when they lost 21–6 to the Baltimore Ravens. Due to the damage, they were forced to play their 2005 campaign at the Alamodome in San Antonio, the New York Giants and Jets' Giants Stadium, and LSU's Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. In a season plagued by poor performance and frequent traveling, both of which contributed to poor morale, the Saints finished 3–13.
Throughout the 2005 season, reports suggested the Saints could permanently move to San Antonio in the wake of the disaster. Saints owner Tom Benson publicly refuted the claims, though speculation persisted since he was from San Antonio, had fired executive vice president Arnie Fielkow who opposed relocation, and long pushed for the state to build a replacement for the aging Superdome. San Antonio mayor Phil Hardberger also opined they would have relocated "had there never been a hurricane." New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin described the situation as disrespectful to the city and its fans. In private, NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue negotiated with the Saints to keep them in Louisiana. Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco signed an executive order in December 2005 that expedited the Superdome's repairs; Blanco recalled Tagliabue had told her, "If you can get that dome up for the first regular game of the 2006 season, next year's season, I will work with Tom Benson. Together we will make sure that the Saints will be there.'" Benson issued a memorandum to Saints staffers on December 30 confirming a return to New Orleans for the 2006 season.
An assessment of the hurricane's impact on the Superdome found its mechanical and electrical systems were still mostly in good shape, while the interior had to be replaced. The turf, scoreboard, and seats were changed out, while the temporary roof installed following Katrina and the underlying steel decking were replaced with a new roof and support structure that contractors assured was "guaranteed never to blow off." $184 million was procured to oversee the repair with $13 million from the state of Louisiana, $115 million from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), $41 million in bonds raised by the Louisiana Stadium & Expedition District, and a $15 million grant donated by the NFL. The governor received criticism for investing into fixing the stadium over crucial infrastructure, though the money was strictly intended for the Superdome.
Repairs were completed in less than 13 months. Blanco stated upon its reopening, "We know that the Superdome was symbolic of a lot of misery. It's now a symbol of our recovery. It stands as a symbol of all of our experiences over the past year."
2006 season Both teams entered Week 3 with undefeated records after winning their first two games. The Saints defeated the Cleveland Browns 19–14 in their season opener followed by a 34–27 win over the Green Bay Packers. The Falcons began their 2006 campaign by playing all three of their NFC South rivals, beating the "Super Bowl favorite" Carolina Panthers 20–6 and the defending division champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14–3.
2006 was the first season for New Orleans head coach Sean Payton and quarterback Drew Brees. Payton came over from the Dallas Cowboys while Brees signed with the Saints as a free agent from the San Diego Chargers. Brees had been coming off surgery to fix a serious shoulder injury, and the uncertainty surrounding if his arm could recover led to hesitation from teams looking for a quarterback. Given the team's struggles and the city's post-Katrina recovery, few players were interested in joining the Saints. Linebacker Scott Fujita, who followed Payton to New Orleans, recalled team headquarters was still being used by FEMA just three weeks before his free agency visit and that "people thought we were nuts."
Brees was modest in his Saints debut, throwing a touchdown and an interception. He also committed three turnovers against the Packers, but rebounded with two touchdowns in the win. The Saints offense also featured running back Deuce McAllister, who returned from a knee injury that forced him to miss the final 11 games of 2005, and rookie Reggie Bush; a former Heisman Trophy winner who recorded 141 yards in the season opener, Bush was regarded by the Associated Press as having "given the city's football fans renewed optimism in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's devastation."
The Falcons featured one of the best rushing offenses in the league, led by quarterback Michael Vick and running backs Warrick Dunn and Jerious Norwood. The offense rushed for 252 yards against the Panthers and a franchise-record 306 yards versus the Bucs; the 558 combined rushing yards were the third most by a team after two games in league history. Dunn also led the league in rushing yards with 266. Although his 2005 season was hampered by knee injury, Vick was still considered an exciting dual-threat quarterback going into 2006: against Tampa Bay, he set an NFL record for the most 100-yard rushing games by a quarterback with his sixth. By the end of 2006, Vick would be the first quarterback in league history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. Dunn also ran for 1,140 yards, making the 2006 Falcons the fourth team to have multiple thousand-yard rushers.
Entering Week 3, the Falcons led the all-time series against the Saints: they defeated their rival 42 times in the regular season against 30 defeats, and also won in the 1991–92 NFL playoffs. The Falcons swept the meetings in 2005, winning 34–31 at the Saints' "home" game in the Alamodome and 36–17 on Monday Night Football in Atlanta.
Festivities To celebrate the Superdome's reopening, special guests and festivities were arranged. Tourism into the city rose as fans came to attend the game, leading to hotel occupancy for the weekend being in the "high 80 percent range". Tickets went for as much as USD$2,000. Brian McCarthy, the NFL's director of communications, called it "certainly a lot bigger than the normal Week 3 Monday night game. In terms of production, scope, and interest, it resembles a Super Bowl production a lot." Saints fullback Mike Karney was approached by teammate Ernie Conwell, who played in two Super Bowls and told him, "'You wanna know what it's like to play in a Super Bowl? Look around. This is what it's like.'"
Hours before the game, the Goo Goo Dolls held a free concert on the Superdome's ramps, which were used as a helipad for rescue helicopters during the hurricane. A "Super Bowl-like pregame show" took place prior to kickoff as music groups Green Day and U2 performed. The bands performed a cover of the Skids song "The Saints Are Coming". The NFL had approached U2's guitarist Edge and producer Bob Ezrin, who created the foundation Music Rising to assist musicians impacted by Katrina, about performing. The former then reached out to Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong to play alongside U2. The Edge selected "The Saints Are Coming" for the show since it was his favorite song as a teenager and the participating bands had punk rock roots.
New Orleans musical stars Irma Thomas and Allen Toussaint sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" with accompanying trumpet by Kermit Ruffins. It was the first time Thomas performed the anthem with accompaniment as she usually prefers to sing it a cappella. The Human Jukebox, the marching band of Southern University, played the halftime show.
Former president George H. W. Bush did the coin toss. Bush won the Republican Party's nomination for the 1988 United States presidential election at the Superdome, which hosted that year's Republican National Convention. He was accompanied by 150 Katrina first responders, who were the first to enter the stadium for the game.
Tagliabue and his successor Roger Goodell attended the game. Film director Spike Lee watched from the New Orleans sideline. Blanco described the gameday atmosphere as "electrifying" and quipped "we almost blew the dome's roof off again."
ESPN televised the game while Westwood One provided radio coverage. Pre-game show sponsor Rhapsody also streamed the broadcast online, which was sold for a limited time afterward. Although the Saints usually provided 200 media credentials per game, they granted 550 to ESPN and also fielded requests from non-sports networks like Al Jazeera Media Network, HSN, and The Weather Channel.
Game Start The Falcons won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff. Allen Rossum returned the kickoff for 24 yards to his team's 29-yard line to begin the drive. After Warrick Dunn ran for a six-yard gain on first down, Vick's pass for Michael Jenkins was incomplete.
On third down and needing four yards for the first down, Vick ran a bootleg play but was sacked by Fujita. Vick fumbled in the process, though the ball was kicked out of bounds. Saints' vice president of communications Greg Bensel often made fun of Fujita for the play because he "would have prevented history from happening" had a Saints player recovered the fumble.
In total, the Falcons' drive lasted just one minute and 18 seconds.
Blocked punt
On fourth and 10 from their own 29-yard line, Falcons punter Michael Koenen was summoned to punt in what he called "kind of a regular punt situation, backed up a little bit. Trying to get the ball out of there a little quicker." Only ten Falcons were on the field, an error that prompted Saints special teams coordinator John Bonamego to suggest attempting to block the punt. Deloatch, a backup cornerback who was on the sideline before the play, was sent in by Bonamego to take advantage of the undermanned Falcons.