NFL Cracking Down On 'Who Dat' Use In New Orleans

NFL News - January 30th, 2010 - Written by John

The New Orleans Saints dream season has been inspiring to the entire area as they prepare for their first Super Bowl in team history.

The surrounding communities have embraced the team so much so that fans are as involved with the team's success as any, and thusly have grown into the 'Who Dat' Nation, a name given to the rabid fans who have grown up following the defunct franchise.

So when neighboring stores received cease-and-desist orders from the NFL to stop producing 'Who Dat' T-shirts depicting the team's black-and-gold, shopkeepers were obviously jaded that their one controllable slice of the season had been taken away.

The league has argued that the stores are using the team's likeness in an unauthorized way, and have begun it's initial plea to stop it. After that, may come litigation.

The league is not telling shops to stop selling shirts with the motto, derived from the warchant "Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints", but will not permit the words to be on the same garment as a fleur-de-lis, the team's logo.

"How can they put a trademark on something that's been around for 150 years?" said Robert Lauricella, a 50-year-old oil field sales representative via ESPN. "Just because the Saints have made the Super Bowl, why does everybody have to make a buck?"

The Saints are currently six-point underdogs in most NFL Betting Lines, and won't be able to take comfort in playing in front of a home crowd next Sunday against the powerful Indianapolis Colts. The Superdome has continually been rated as the loudest stadium in the NFL, and fans are simply hoping to bring that spirit to the biggest game in team history.

But the main issue is that many shops around Louisiana are paying a hefty licensing fee to sell authentic Saints merchandise, and their sales are taking a hit because of the street sales.

"This helps protect the local businesses that are selling legitimate Saints merchandise and also the local printers that are making the licensed Saints apparel," league spokesman Brian McCarthy said.

But the community is crying foul, and getting plenty of powerful support behind them. Senator David Vitter, and congressman Charlie Melancon, both from Louisiana, wrote commissioner Roger Goodell a stern letter reprimanding the league's policy, and defying it's claim

He said he will urge local shops to print shirts that say "WHO DAT say we can't print Who Dat!" on them.

"Please either drop your present ridiculous position or sue me," Vitter wrote in the memo.

The community essentially coined the phrase and made it synonymous with the team. But there in lies the problem. Once a phrase or term becomes a part of the team itself, thus stirring a connection of that team with it's use, the term becomes part of the franchise, thus a part of the league.

"You can take a word and by applying it to goods or services get people to think about your goods or services," Tulane law professor Glenn Lunney said.