Sean Payton’s news conference declaring his everlasting fidelity to the Saints had ended a few minutes earlier, and on the other side of Airline Highway, at the Winn-Dixie, Mario Hernandez’s smile as he emerged from the Winn-Dixie with his first king cake purchases of the season said all you needed to know about how he felt.
“I’m tickled pink,” Hernandez said. “We’ve got a great coach who’s the best thing that’s ever happened to this city.
“What he said came from the heart. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a coach speak the way he did today.