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Thread: Saints owner, Tom Benson, passes away

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    Default Saints owner, Tom Benson, passes away

    Saints owner Tom Benson passed away today at 90 years old.

    There have been battles over the fate of his teams the last couple years with his kids attempting to take control and taking him to court with challenges to his mental fitness, etc.

    I definitely think his heirs will sell the team if he didn't come up with some way to prevent the Saints from moving in his will. We shall see!

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    Sad, but a good, long life!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Davii View Post
    Saints owner Tom Benson passed away today at 90 years old.

    There have been battles over the fate of his teams the last couple years with his kids attempting to take control and taking him to court with challenges to his mental fitness, etc.

    I definitely think his heirs will sell the team if he didn't come up with some way to prevent the Saints from moving in his will. We shall see!
    Happy family...yikes.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hawgdriver View Post
    Happy family...yikes.
    Yeah, he's had two wives pass away and is married to a third He only has one surviving child, a daughter from wife 2. He had his grand-daughter as his heir-apparent in the will but a couple years ago sent his grandkids a letter saying they will not control the teams. The girl filed suit saying he's being controlled by the new wife and a few Saint's execs and that he's losing his mind, etc. The judge ruled in his favor but a different lawsuit over a bunch of property, etc in Texas was ruled in her favor and she wqs given control over the trust. There's a lot more questions over what that really means. The trust owns like 45% ofn the Saints and 60% of the Pelicans or something along those lines but the rest might now go to wife 3 or into the trust.

    There will definitely be court challenges coming up

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    Quote Originally Posted by Davii View Post
    Yeah, he's had two wives pass away and is married to a third He only has one surviving child, a daughter from wife 2. He had his grand-daughter as his heir-apparent in the will but a couple years ago sent his grandkids a letter saying they will not control the teams. The girl filed suit saying he's being controlled by the new wife and a few Saint's execs and that he's losing his mind, etc. The judge ruled in his favor but a different lawsuit over a bunch of property, etc in Texas was ruled in her favor and she wqs given control over the trust. There's a lot more questions over what that really means. The trust owns like 45% ofn the Saints and 60% of the Pelicans or something along those lines but the rest might now go to wife 3 or into the trust.

    There will definitely be court challenges coming up
    I vaguely remember that. He seemed like a decent owner, in general. Hopefully, it resolves itself in New Orleans. I've never been there, but seems like a city that loves its team.
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    Benson was the only credible owner the Saints ever had and his decision to return the Saints to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina cemented him in the hearts of Saints fans. He could have easily relocated the team and none of the owners would have stopped him but he waited a year while the Superdome was repaired and then moved back in. The 2008 Super Bowl was his crowning moment.
    I miss the old Mile High Stadium.

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    Quote Originally Posted by OrangeHoof View Post
    Benson was the only credible owner the Saints ever had and his decision to return the Saints to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina cemented him in the hearts of Saints fans. He could have easily relocated the team and none of the owners would have stopped him but he waited a year while the Superdome was repaired and then moved back in. The 2008 Super Bowl was his crowning moment.
    The NFL actually barred it from happening, it wasn't purely a Tom Benson decision. He had been in talks with San Antonio to possibly move if Louisiana and New Orleans decided not to rebuild the Superdome. The league stepped in and said they wouldn't allow the move, at the same time, the State agreed to fund the renovation to the dome. So, Tom didn't make that decision completely on his own and he was not well thought of here immediately after Katrina.

    Now, since then, he has REALLY done his part making the Saints an integral part of the city and the Super Bowl really cemented his legacy here and made him loved. Damn good owner, but don't give him credit for coming back after Katrina because he was using it as leverage until the league stepped in
    Last edited by Davii; 03-16-2018 at 09:03 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Davii View Post
    The NFL actually barred it from happening, it wasn't purely a Tom Benson decision. He had been in talks with San Antonio to possibly move if Louisiana and New Orleans decided not to rebuild the Superdome. The league stepped in and said they wouldn't allow the move, at the same time, the State agreed to fund the renovation to the dome. So, Tom didn't make that decision completely on his own and he was not well thought of here immediately after Katrina.

    Now, since then, he has REALLY done his part making the Saints an integral part of the city and the Super Bowl really cemented his legacy here and made him loved. Damn good owner, but don't give him credit for coming back after Katrina because he was using it as leverage until the league stepped in
    Eh, Bowlen threatened to move the Broncos if we didn't foot some of the bill for the new, currently nameless, stadium.

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    Quote Originally Posted by GEM View Post
    Eh, Bowlen threatened to move the Broncos if we didn't foot some of the bill for the new, currently nameless, stadium.
    Yep. I get it. However, Bowlen didn't threaten to do that immediately after a natural disaster wiped out the city, killed 3,000 people, and he probably didn't actually hold meetings with the mayors of other cities to see if he could strike a deal.

    I'm not even saying Benson is a bad guy, just that the optics and timing of that situation were bad, and he was not at all well liked around here after that. He did a masterful job of repairing that relationship with New Orleans and is now very highly thought of.

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