Paul Tagliabue attended countless Super Bowls and met scores of U.S. Presidents and foreign leaders during his 17-year tenure as NFL Commissioner.
But the 77-year-old New Jersey native had never experienced anything like the second line parade to honor former Saints owner Tom Benson on Friday in the French Quarter.
"I didn't know anything about a second line until someone sent me a video of an impromptu second line last week," Tagliabue said on Friday afternoon, still trying to mentally digest the experience. "It was incredible."
Yes, it was. From the sun-kissed afternoon under a blue-bird sky to the diverse milieu of fans that gathered by the hundreds in Jackson Square to pay their respects to one of the city's most popular and powerful men, it was a day many New Orleanians won't soon forget.