For Goshen native Don Marquis, life in the French Quarter these days is as spirited this week as it’s ever been since he’s lived there. And this is New Orleans, a town that has hosted Super Bowls and puts on the biggest party in the world each year.

“Mardi Gras starts on (Feb. 16), but everybody’s talking about the Saints,” said Marquis via phone from his home in New Orleans. “Even Mardi Gras has taken second fiddle to the Saints.”

Here in Goshen, Marquis’ longtime friend, JoAnne Yoder, is just as excited about the Saints, who will play the Indianapolis Colts Sunday in Super Bowl XLIV in Miami.

A 1961 graduate of Goshen College, Yoder moved to New Orleans so she could attend graduate school at Tulane. She lived in The Crescent City for 45 years before the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 eventually pushed her back to Indiana.

“I’m still in disbelief that the Saints actually made it to the Super Bowl,” Yoder said. “You can’t be there all those years and not be in disbelief.”

Looking back on the Saint’s history, it’s easy to see Yoder’s point.

Tough times

Marquis grew up in Goshen along Gra-Roy Drive and went on to graduate from Goshen High School in 1951. Years later he would write a book about Goshen titled “A Nifty Place to Grow Up.”

When Marquis did grow up, it was music that he loved, especially jazz. It was a passion that eventually landed him in New Orleans. A few years ago he retired as curator of the New Orleans Jazz Museum and still lives in New Orleans at the far end of the French Quarter.

“I guess you can say,” he quipped, “that I made a living out of being a jazz fan.”

It certainly treated him better than being a New Orleans Saints football fan for more than four decades. Since their inaugural year in 1967, the Saints have largely been NFL bottom feeders with an occasional winning season. The Saints have qualified for the playoffs just six times, all since 1987. Their first playoff win didn’t come until 2000.

“Their first game was in 1967 and I had season tickets,” said Marquis, who has lived in New Orleans since the early ’60s. “They played outside at Tulane Stadium back then. A guy named John Gilliam took the opening kickoff back for a touchdown. That was about the last good thing they did the rest of the year.”

The Saints lost that game to the Los Angeles Rams and finished the season with 3-11 record. Still, after growing up a Chicago Cardinals fan and then a Detroit Lions fan, Marquis was officially now a Saints fan. It proved to be a tough existence.

Yoder also fell in love with the team and hasn’t regretted a moment of it.

“The city had a love affair with that team since jump,” Yoder said. “We were bonded to the Saints win or lose, and it was mostly lose for a long time.”

Eleven days ago the Saints beat the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship game to qualify for their first Super Bowl, sparking a Saints mania.

“Usually the Saints lost, but they were fun,” Marquis said. “Now, we’re living on top of the world. It’s so exciting down here. Everybody’s wearing Saints jerseys. It’s great.”

Common links

Now the Saints will take on the high-powered Colts for the world championship. There are several unique links between the two teams.

First, there are the Mannings. Colts quarterback Peyton Manning grew up in New Orleans and his dad, Archie, is one of the most celebrated players in Saints history, having played quarterback there from 1971 until 1982.

“I’ve followed Peyton throughout his career starting at Newman High School,” Yoder said. “The Mannings are such a great family and Peyton is a reflection of that. If the Saints lose it will be nice consolation because my boy won.”

The second major link is current Saints quarterback Drew Brees who was an All-American at Purdue. In 2000 he led the Boilermakers to their first Rose Bowl appearance in 34 years.

Brees has helped rejuvenate the Saints franchise after signing with the team for the 2006 season. With Brees at the helm New Orleans has become one of the most explosive offenses in the league.

“What I like about this team is they’re really together, a true team” Marquis said. “If the running backs aren’t doing it, Drew Brees does it. There is a lot of camaraderie on the team and that’s great to see.”

Both Marquis and Yoder feel this Saints team is helping to pull New Orleans together after Hurricane Katrina blew it apart. The team even played some of its 2005 home schedule in San Antonio because of damage to its home field, the Superdome. There was even doubt the team would ever go back to New Orleans.

But the team’s owners elected to return and the Superdome was refurbished. Now, the Saints are one win away from completing one of the more unlikely journeys in sports history.

“This team has really pulled the city together,” Marquis said. “It makes me very proud.”