By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – Although it wasn’t quite as loud as the Louisiana Superdome would have been, fans who attended Super Bowl XLIV at Sun Life Stadium in Miami to watch the New Orleans Saints conquer the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 said the Who Dat Nation was well represented.

“It was surreal inside the stadium,” said St. John Parish Councilwoman Cheryll Millet, who secured her ticket to the game at the last minute. “There is no feeling that is quite like it, and few words can completely describe it.”

Millet, who spent most of last weekend in South Florida for the game and other festivities, said Saints fans inside the stadium and around the area outnumbered Colts fans by four to one.

“We were hugging and high-fiving strangers all weekend,” Millet said. “We even turned some Colts fans into Saints fans. They all said that if their team was not in it, they would be cheering for the Saints.”

LaPlace insurance agent Natalie Tatje, who arrived in Miami for the game just hours before kickoff, described the stadium as “electrifying.”

“When (Colts quarterback) Peyton Manning got the ball first, the stadium really got loud,” Tatje said. “I thought that we would outnumber (Colts fans), but when it was our turn they got just as loud as we did.”

Tatje said the game did have a bit of the Superdome feel to it. She said each time the team scored, the public address system in the stadium would play the familiar songs heard every week at a home Saints game. She said the slow start really didn’t phase too many people.

“The onsides kick was the jump starter,” she said. “We knew at that point that we had a game on our hands.”

When the final seconds ticked off the clock and the confetti fell from the rafters, Tatje and her group of about 50 stayed through the celebration to watch Head Coach Sean Payton receive the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

“I’d say the stadium probably stayed about 65 percent full through the trophy presentation,” Tatje said. “You always have to support your team win or lose.”

Millet, who spent most of Monday driving back from Miami, said the highways were jammed with cars with Saints flags and Louisiana license plates.

���We were having our own little party on the drive home,” Millet said. “There were so many memorable things this weekend that just make you smile and feel proud.”