On Sunday, September 13th, the National Football League began its 2020-2021 season, but with major adjustments. The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically altered professional sports for both players and fans.
For the first official game of the season, the Saints won 34-23 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With many people wanting to celebrate the good start to the season, there were no places to go besides your own home.
New Orleans is a city of pride. The New Orleans Saints are a symbol of this proud fan base, as for every football season, Saints fans show up above and beyond other football team’s fans. If you can recall, when the Saints lost in the conference championships to the Los Angeles Rams due to a bad call, a majority of the bars in New Orleans refused to play the game on the TVs. The unwavering loyalty to their team makes this football season feel very different in New Orleans.
The NFL has decided to have no spectators at games. This means that there are no tailgates nor the roaring crowd the Superdome is known to attract. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic protocol in the city of New Orleans is still not allowing bars to open. The closing of gathering spots to watch the game moves people to home watch parties. But, is it the same?
After talking with friends, I have discovered that even though the option to go into New Orleans to watch or celebrate the game is gone, watching with a group of friends can be made to be enjoyable. Sports are so popular because of the way it brings people together. Regardless of whether football can be celebrated in the city, New Orleanians will continue to celebrate in their homes and share their happiness on social media.
To watch the Saints, below is their full schedule for this season. Go Saints!
Pic Creds: https://www.neworleanssaints.com/schedule/
About Hannah Gruber
Hannah Gruber is a freshman originally from Bernardsville, NJ but has been loving New Orleans and wanted to write about it! She can’t wait to get more involved at Tulane and get to know the city more!
Hannah Gruber is a freshman originally from Bernardsville, NJ but has been loving New Orleans and wanted to write about it! She can’t wait to get more involved at Tulane and get to know the city more!
