The Saints came home after Katrina. What happened next changed New Orleans

Except for one group of young men, who sprinted toward the "Rebirth" statue on the southeast side of the venue that features Steve Gleason's block of Atlanta Falcons punter Michael Koenen on "Monday Night Football," Sept. 25, 2006 – the Saints' first game back in the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina threatened the very existence of the team in the city. Although the official 20th anniversary has passed, the celebration will take place when the Saints host the Falcons Oct. 5, also on Monday night.

"It's the play that changed Saints history forever," said Ian Reddoch, one of the baby faces who darted toward the statue, even though he wasn't even alive when Curtis Deloatch recovered the blocked punt in the end zone for the game's first touchdown.

Yet Reddoch, born in 2008, and his friends felt compelled – no, mandated, in the quest for good luck, Reddoch said – to make this pilgrimage to the bronze statue unveiled in 2012 that commemorates a moment that not only spelled the return of a franchise, but the comeback of the city. The play connects a generation of fans who saw the franchise's founding in 1967 to those who weren't born when Katrina forced the mass evacuations of their parents or were in diapers when Hall of Fame quarterback and franchise legend Drew Brees hoisted the Lombardi Trophy in 2010.