By Michael Davis

Every Sunday, millions of Americans turn on their TVs to watch their favorite football team. A small percentage of these viewers are superfans. A superfan goes to the extreme to support their team. The devotion of a superfan leads them to paint their entire body in their team’s colors or create an intricate costume. The New Orleans Saints have their base of superfans. Their costumes are decked out with face paint, masks, hats, capes, and anything else they need to make their character come to life. 

Sitting through the stadium, ordinary fans may not notice these superfans decked out in face paint and homemade costumes. Ron Calamia used to work as a photographer during the Saints games and noticed the energy and devotion from the superfans, and what he said is a “deep profound love for the Saints”. He wanted to showcase these fans and tell their story of how they show love and appreciation to their football team. After hundreds of interviews and a $60,000 investment, Calamia created the FANtastic Saints book featuring over 50 superfans. Calamia began his passion project by tracking down various superfans, interviewing and photographing them, and piecing together the stories into one book. 

A lifelong Saints fan himself, he wanted to learn why these fans were “supporting the team beyond what 99% of people do”. For some, it was to honor a late family member and for others a distraction from their health issues or personal struggles, Calamia learned being a superfan gives them a purpose to support a team that has been there for them their entire lives. Everyone has a different way of showing support for their favorite team, and the superfans showcased in Calamia’s book go to extreme means to show their passion for the Saints. 

Barry Matherne also known as “Dat Fireman” attends Saints games in a donated fireman uniform he upgraded with gold bling on his waist and arms, a gold Fleur-de-lis painted on each pant leg, golden fireman boots, a gold fireman hat, and his face painted in black and gold. Matherne agreed to be a part of Calamia’s book on the condition that his brother-in-law “Saints Fett” could also be in the book. Matherne’s journey to becoming a superfan started when his brother-in-law passed away. Calamia said “He had never dressed up before his brother-in-law dressed up. He went to the brother-in-law’s funeral, and 9 or 10 superfans came to the funeral dressed up, and they told him you have to do this and he said I’m in and became the persona [Dat Fireman].” For the FANtastic Saints book, Matherne dressed in his brother-in-law’s Boba Fett inspired costume with a black and gold helmet, gold shin guards, a golden chest piece, and a black and gold weapon modeled after Boba Fett’s in Star Wars. 

Another superfan Helen Centanni, also known as Malefisaint, attends Saints games in her body-length black velvet cape with gold accents and golden horns with black paint strokes to bring her character to life. She modeled her persona after the Disney character Maleficent in honor of her sister who passed away. Calamia said “She used to go to the games with her sister, and her sister ended up having health issues and passing away. They were huge Disney fans; they were two girls that always went to Disney together. She decided she would dress up as a Disney character to go to the games in the spirit of helping her feel closer to her sister.” 

Every NFL team has its group of super fans; the Cheeseheads in Green Bay, BillsMafia in Buffalo, and Who Dey Nation in Cincinnati. To Calamia, “there is no other football team with a fan base like New Orleans, it is just so unique.” To the average person, these superfans may appear obnoxious or crazy, but Calamia’s book brings a different side to being a superfan which gives more meaning beyond just supporting their favorite football team. After interviewing all of the superfans Calamia said “They believe in more than just going to a Saints game and dressing up. They believe in their community and how they can help it.” Calamia also created the book to share the love of the Saints with people who cannot attend the games. Older people who cannot go to the games or people who cannot afford tickets can share their love of the Saints with the superfans in the book. Although Calamia invested a substantial amount of

money into this project, he has donated many of the books to hospitals, charities, and fans who cannot afford the price of the book. Rather than dressing up like the other superfans, Calamia created the FANtastic Saints book to share his love and support of the team and bring together a community of extreme Saints fans who want to share their love of their team with the rest of the city. 

Calamia’s book brings to life the dedication of superfans and their devotion to create intricate costumes in support of their favorite team. Every superfan in his book is special, and they allow regular fans to appreciate the dedication it takes to become a superfan. He is currently running a promotion for his books where he is selling them below print cost. Anyone interested in purchasing the books should go to http://www.fantasticsaints.com.