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Noman got the score wrong, but not the result! The San Francisco 49ers scored a touchdown in the final seconds to defeat the New Orleans Saints in a thriller. Vernon Davis, shown above crying in his coach's arms after making the game winning catch with :09 seconds remaining, was magnificent. He came to play. His final line: 7 catches for 180 yards--a single game, post-season record for tight ends--and 2 touchdowns. And, that doesn't capture how well he performed, especially in the clutch with the game on the line. Davis's catch and tears of joy reminded 49er fans everywhere of...

SAN ANTONIO -- The Saints fired coach Jim Haslett on Monday, the day after ending a 3-13 season overshadowed by the hurricane that devastated New Orleans and forced the team to abandon the city. Haslett was 45-51 in six seasons with the Saints and had the second-most victories in team history behind Jim Mora's 93. Saints spokesman Greg Bensel said Jim Haslett was relieved of his duties Monday morning, and that general manager Mickey Loomis would discuss the situation at a news conference. Haslett, 50, wasn't expected to attend the news conference. Haslett, the 2000 NFL Coach of the Year...

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said the Saints will play the 2006 season as the New Orleans Saints, but that the team will likely play at least some of their games in San Antonio. Tagliabue toured areas of the Lower Ninth Ward, Lakeview, New Orleans East, as well as the team’s training facility in Metairie. He pronounced the team’s facility to be in “excellent” condition. The Superdome, he said, was another story. He said that facility may be able to house some Saints games by December of 2006. Tagliabue said the Saints lease with the state allows the team to play...

Saints Owner Tom Benson says he won’t attend any more Saints games in Baton Rouge after he claims he feared for his life in some terrifying encounters with fans after the game. Saints owner Tom Benson lunges at the Channel 4 camera, knocking it down and causing a microphone to fall off the equipment. Benson also got into a verbal argument with a fan. In an e-mail that league sources say Benson sent to the NFL Commissioner and other high-ranking officials, he complained about a lack of security and a confrontation with obscenity-hurling fans. “My trip to Baton Rouge was...

The Saints say they won’t comment and the NFL says the incident where owner Tom Benson lunged at an Eyewitness News camera, yanked it down and engaged in a vulgar shouting match with a fan is much ado about nothing much. Saints spokesman Greg Bensel said they would not comment on the incident and that stance wouldn’t change. The NFL said they will not fine Benson. “It was nothing more than pushing a camera aside,” said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. “It appears to be not much more than a brief heated exchange. It was a tough day for the Saints...

Saints owner Tom Benson lunged at an Eyewitness News camera, ripping off a microphone and then got into a shouting match with a fan upon leaving Tiger Stadium Sunday. According to Eyewitness Sports’ Lee Zurik, he and cameraman Mike Bland were in the press box with about five minutes to go when he saw Mr. Benson leaving the game. Saints owner Tom Benson lunges at the Channel 4 camera, knocking it down and causing a microphone to fall off the equipment. Benson also got into a verbal argument with a fan. Zurik and Bland went downstairs to get some video...

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said on Sunday the New Orleans Saints should remain in Louisiana and try to find a broader fan base after the devastation of the football team's hometown by Hurricane Katrina. "Our focus continues to be on having the Saints in Louisiana," said Tagliabue. He added, "We're trying to develop what we would regard as a new model for the Saints to operate in a rebuilt Louisiana." Reports that Saints owner Tom Benson has considered moving the franchise to San Antonio, Texas, where it has played games this season, or the richer market of Los Angeles, have...

Saints Could End Up In L.A. Team, League Weighing Options By Mark Maske and Leonard Shapiro Washington Post Staff Writers Thursday, October 27, 2005; E01 NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 26 -- The NFL will consider relocating the New Orleans Saints to Los Angeles if New Orleans is unable to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, three sources familiar with the league's deliberations on the matter said. The NFL plans to return the Saints to New Orleans if the city demonstrates it can still support the team, the officials said. But they said the league is concerned that the area will...

New Orleans has only a slim chance of ever seeing another NFL team if the Saints relocate to San Antonio or elsewhere, according to a major sports consultant. Marc Ganis of SportsCorp Ltd. in Chicago served as a consultant to Cleveland in 1996 when that city's NFL team moved to Baltimore and the NFL guaranteed Cleveland a new team and allowed the city to keep the Browns' logos, colors and nickname. Earlier this week, when media reports surfaced indicating Saints owner Tom Benson wants to move the team to San Antonio, New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin said he wanted the...

Officials: Dome likely OK for some Saints games in '06 Associated Press BATON ROUGE, La. -- Louisiana Superdome officials said Thursday that the stadium should be largely cleaned up from Hurricane Katrina and ready for the New Orleans Saints to play at least some of their games there in 2006. However, the announcement came as San Antonio officials said they were working Saints owner Tom Benson to keep the team in Texas. The state must also respond to the team's assertions that its state-owned practice facility has been rendered unusable by damages caused by federal agencies in the weeks following...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Mayor Ray Nagin disparaged Saints owner Tom Benson on Wednesday for working with San Antonio officials to permanently keep the NFL team in Texas. The mayor's comments came after the departures of two top Saints executives who were supportive of keeping the Saints in Louisiana. Nagin is concerned that San Antonio officials said publicly that Benson is working with them to relocate the franchise to Texas. "We want our Saints, we may not want the owner back," Nagin said while attending the reopening of Cafe Du Monde in the French Quarter. "I'm ready to go to...

Laying aside all pretenses about the city's interest in the New Orleans Saints, Mayor Phil Hardberger said Sunday he plans to pursue actively the permanent relocation of the team to San Antonio. Hardberger said Saints owner Tom Benson has agreed to participate in discussions, likely at the end of the current season, aimed at making the team the "San Antonio Saints" before the start of the 2006 season. "He (Benson) understands that we will sit down and talk," Hardberger said while attending Sunday's Saints-Atlanta Falcons game at the Alamodome. "That is his desire as well. I'm pretty comfortable in saying...

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Army News Service, Oct. 14, 2005) -- Wounded warriors sat center field Oct. 7 at the Alamodome, watching the New Orleans Saints practice for their ill-fated game against the Green Bay Packers. The New Orleans Saints invited Brooke Army Medical Center’s amputee care patients to attend practice at San Antonio’s Alamodome. Saints' owner Tom Benson extended his thanks by inviting the wounded warriors to the next home game, Oct. 16, against Buffalo. With the Alamodome empty, the Soldiers had an up-close and personal view of the work that goes into game day. In the empty Alamodome, each...