SOMETHING SPECIAL FOR NEW ORLEANS.

Byline: BILLY WITZ NFL 

NEW ORLEANS - The Saints came marching in Monday night, and when they arrived at the Superdome, there didn't seem to be a man, woman or child who didn't want to be in that number.

Just over a year after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city, pro football returned, and for one celebratory, cathartic day, the City That Care Forgot became the City That Forgot Its Cares.

They danced, they cheered and they carried on, letting les bons temps roulez.

It was just like old times, with one exception -- the Saints won, trouncing archrival Atlanta 23-3 amid the din of their rebuilt home.

To the people of the city, who have embraced the players since the team returned its operations to New Orleans last spring and have sold out the entire home schedule for the first time, the victory was a present.

The Saints awarded a game ball to Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson, who gave the team a fiery pregame talk. Johnson, in turn, dedicated it to the people of the city.

``We understand what happened,'' receiver Joe Horn said. ``We understood the importance of winning for (the fans). If we didn't win, they'd still be partying because this organization is still in New Orleans. In their mind, they could have lost the team and the Superdome. But we wanted to win, we wanted to put the icing on the cake.''

The made-over Saints, with a new coach in Sean Payton, a new quarterback in Drew Brees and a new marquee player in Reggie Bush, are now 3-0 for the first time since 2002. In their return home, they looked just as good their remade building, which, thanks to more than $140 million and nearly around-the-clock work over the past nine months, has been left glistening inside and out.

It took only four plays to see if the Superdome roof, which had holes torn in it by Katrina, would hold up.

When Steve Gleason broke through the Atlanta line and blocked Michael Koenen's punt, which Curtis DeLoatch recovered in the end zone for a New Orleans touchdown, the noise was deafening.

``It was so loud I thought it was gonna shake the Dome loose again,'' Saints defensive end Charles Grant said.

The Saints scored again on a double reverse, with Brees throwing the key block that allowed Devery Henderson to score, and the defense held Atlanta to 117 yards -- less than half its league-leading average.

``There was so much joy, I wish I could have run around the isles,'' said Gleason, who has been with the Saints for seven seasons. ``Last year was total agony. For us to be here sold out, I wish we could have had the entire population in the dome.''

It couldn't have been a more different scene than the last time the Superdome's doors were open.

In the aftermath of the Katrina flooding, the Superdome became a worldwide icon of the disaster. The lawlessness, hopeless, desperation -- and in a handful of cases, death -- were a microcosm of what was happening around the city.

Now, the hope is the Superdome can become another symbol, one of rebirth.

When some of the firefighters, law enforcement officers and the disaster's other first responders who were honored before the game walked into the Superdome for the first time since, they were overwhelmed.

``Honestly, I wanted to cry,'' said firefighter Michael Bourgeois, taking a moment to compose himself. ``It's been an emotional year for all of us here. It's a happy moment -- it really is. The faces I saw a year ago were a lot different. It was desperation. Now I see joy.''

The NFL did its part to lend a special air to the re-opening. The league placed it on Monday night, enlisted former president George H.W. Bush for the coin flip, and rock bands U2 and Green Day for a pregame concert.

New Orleans has hosted nine Super Bowls, more than any other city, but this was billed as one for the people here.

``Tonight is obviously more than just a game,'' NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said before the game. ``We're fortunate to have a terrific matchup tonight with two undefeated teams, but this means more to this community and more to this nation, and it gives them an opportunity to show the world the spirit that is here -- not only in New Orleans, but throughout Louisiana and the entire Gulf Coast region.''

Goodell was joined by his predecessor, Paul Tagliabue, who last year admonished Saints owner Tom Benson to commit to the city when he was considering relocating permanently to San Antonio, where it took up residence after the storm.

``I bought a house in San Antonio, but I'm so glad we're home,'' said former UCLA defensive tackle Rodney Leisle. ``It was so awesome out there. The fans carried us.''

All day and in every nook and cranny of the city, people went about their business in black, gold and white -- some in suits, others in omnipresent Reggie Bush jerseys.

By lunchtime, they began to fill neighborhood bars and by mid-afternoon the streets around downtown were packed with revelers. Hours before the doors to the Superdome opened, fans clogged the ramps and concourses around the stadium, and down below in the streets it felt like Mardi Gras.

``This is a spiritual cleansing for New Orleans,'' said Chris Wiseman, dressed in a gold foam fleur-de-lis with a beer in one hand and a cigar in the other.

``This is what's it's about,'' said Crissy Chambers, whose family lost its home in St. Bernard and has yet to rebuild. ``With the hurricane, the local people needed to have this. They have to come out for this.''

A moment later, Chambers volunteered that it really didn't matter if the Saints won.

``If they do, it's lagniappe,'' she said, the French expression for a little something extra, something that could be as simple as a couple more oysters on a Po-boy.

And a perfect end to a perfect day.

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(1 -- color) The New Orleans Saints take the field at the newly re-opened Superdome in New Orleans.

Alex Brandon/Associated Press