Excerpt from oral history interview with John Mecom Jr.
August 16, 2012
by Mark Cave, interviewer; Sarah Holtz, producer
gift of John W. Mecom Jr., 2012.0321
Much of what defines Saints fandom was created by the team’s first owner, John Mecom Jr. Here, he describes the origin of the beloved Saints logo and mascot Sir Saint.
Image: New Orleans Saints musical lighter box; between 1967 and 1975; by Sankyo Japan, manufacturer; The Historic New Orleans Collection, gift of David and Mary Dixon family, 2009.0157.1
John Mecom Jr.: Fleur-de-lis came about because of the influence in New Orleans and the French. And it was a very pretty symbol and very strong symbol.
[Sir Saint PA announcement from YouTube video, “Sir Saint.”]
Mecom: There was one, that little Saints character, that little man in the helmet with the shield. I did steal that from another good friend of mine by the name of Graham Hill. Graham was a Formula One champion and he won Indianapolis for me in 1966. And he and Bette had sent us a Christmas card, and he was on the front of it, and he had his racing helmet on with the same type of character. And it just was kind of a, just something that would be, it would be fun to have, I guess. I don’t know. So I asked Graham if I could kind of steal it from him. He said, “Sure, go ahead.” So, ironically, the little man in the football helmet with the shield with the big jaw had nothing to do with football. It was a world-famous racing driver, Grand Prix racing driver. And it worked out well. I guess when Mr. Benson did eliminate it for a while, but I see that it’s back again now.