‘I don’t want you thinking about anything but hitting that fleur-de-[expletive]-lis’
We’re down to 40 days until the New Orleans Saints kick off their 2025 regular season, and Garrett Hartley’s 40-yard field goal against the Minnesota Vikings is our Saints Play of the Day.
Now, a 40-yard field goal in itself isn’t too exciting. But this kick in particular had the highest stakes of any play in team history. Hartley sent the Saints to Super Bowl XLIV by nailing his field goal in overtime of the NFC championship game. He followed Sean Payton’s advice to aim for the team’s black and gold fleur-de-lis waving on a banner between the uprights.
It was one of the hardest-fought games in recent memory. The score was tied up four times and the Saints defensed hammered the Vikings offense, taking advantage of two Brett Favre interceptions and a three lost fumbles from Adrian Peterson, Percy Harvin, and Bernard Berrian. Minnesota’s ball security proved to be their downfall when Favre threw his second interception in the final seconds of regulation; Tracy Porter picked it off, setting the stage for his iconic pick-six off of Peyton Manning in the Super Bowl.
As for Hartley? His season to this point was wild. He’d been suspended for the first four games and was inactive during the next seven contests before getting called in to replace John Carney. He went 9-of-11 on field goals and 10-of-11 on extra points in the team’s last five regular season games, but he kicked things into gear in the playoffs. Hartley was perfect on each of his field goals (including three of them in the Super Bowl from distances of 46, 44, and 47 yards) and all 12 of his extra point tries. It’s not enough to say the Saints wouldn’t have won Super Bowl XLIV without him. Without Hartley, they wouldn’t have even gotten there.