Displaced from New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina, the Saints opened the 2005 season with a 23-20 win over Carolina on John Carney’s 47-yard field goal with three seconds left. The team was based in San Antonio, with its home-game schedule still undecided.
Originally published Sept. 23, 2005, the feature reports that New Orleans was flooded, the Superdome’s condition was uncertain and FEMA had taken over the Saints’ Metairie training facility. In San Antonio, players used makeshift offices and practiced at a high school complex. Reports at the time said the team was negotiating to play four home games at the Alamodome and three at LSU’s Tiger Stadium, but the plan was not final.
Nine Saints players visited a San Antonio shelter housing nearly 1,800 evacuees and bought several thousand dollars’ worth of supplies and gifts for residents.
