John Pope and Bruce Nolan wrote this story.

saints-fans-reggie-bush.JPGTed Jackson / The Times-PicayuneNew Orleans Saint Reggie Bush jumps into the stands at Sun life Stadium in Miami after the Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 in the Super Bowl.

Sixteen hours after the New Orleans Saints’ victory in Super Bowl XLIV, the crowd at Domilise’s Po-Boys was still in Who Dat heaven. Everyone who was assembling the Uptown restaurant’s iconic shrimp, oyster and roast-beef sandwiches was wearing a Saints-related T-shirt or cap, as were many of the customers, and everyone was smiling.

Into this jam-packed eatery came Joy Favor, who had made a beeline for Domilise’s after getting off a flight from Miami, where she had seen the game. Wearing a black T-shirt and carrying a golden tote bag on her left shoulder, she said two words when she crossed the threshold: “Who Dat!”

Favor said she had had no sleep, but she was clearly excited about the game and what she had seen and heard Monday morning on the way back home.

“It’s unbelievable,” Favor said. “The pilot got on the microphone and said, ‘Who Dat!’ Even the Colts fans I saw in Miami were saying, ‘You deserve that.’”

saints-fans-confetti.JPGMatthew Hinton / The Times-PicayuneBrynn Comeaux, left, and Jourdin Shockley dance as the confetti falls on Bourbon Street the New Orleans Saints defeated the Indianapolis Colts for their first Super Bowl victory Sunday.

What might have seemed surprising was that this outpouring of Saints support was occurring in what is not only a favorite restaurant of the Manning family but also a virtual shrine to its members. Among the photographs behind the bar are pictures of Peyton Manning, the Indianapolis Colts’ quarterback, and his brother, Eli, the New York Giants quarterback, holding the Vince Lombardi Trophy the year their respective teams won the Super Bowl.

Despite that strong bond, Patti Domilise, the restaurant’s manager, made her allegiance clear. Wearing a T-shirt proclaiming “Hey Shockey Way,” in honor of Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey, Domilise said there was no question about whom she and her colleagues would root for Sunday.

“When it was their turn, we were pulling for them,” she said. “It was our turn this time.”

If Sunday was a day of game-related tension, Monday was a time for afterglow.

saints-fans-kiss.JPGJohn McCusker / The Times-PicayuneSaints fans Tarak Anado and Jamie Walter share a kiss in celebration of the New Orleans Saints’ 31-17 win in Super Bowl XLIV in Miami, Fla.

It was not business as usual. Traffic in and around the city was lighter than normal; many schools were closed. Businesses seemed to run at a little less than full speed; restaurants were not so crowded.

All over town, people seemed to have no intention of making Monday a regular day. It was not. Monday was a day full of camaraderie and good cheer, a day in which the electronic sign above the northbound entrance to the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway bore a new name, Breesway, in honor of Saints quarterback Drew Brees.

Nobody was a stranger.

New Orleans was undergoing what Jim Murray called “a perfect storm” of good fortune: a New Orleans mayor’s race that, in Mitch Landrieu, produced an astonishing 66 percent consensus on the city’s next leader; a Super Bowl championship; and Mardi Gras, which, one wag suggested, could be renamed “Dat Tuesday.”

“Yeah, it’s a perfect storm. I told somebody, not since 9/11 have I felt anything like this,” said Murray, a process operator at the Dow Chemical plant in Norco. “All the divisions feel like they’re gone. It’s like for once we’re all on the same page, right?”

Lisa Smyth, an Uptowner, said the weekend’s events marked nothing less than “a sea change for the city. It’s huge.”

“Oh, this is way bigger than the Super Bowl, trust me,” said Eddie Sandifer, the community-outreach coordinator for Positive Living Treatment Center, a private mental health clinic near the corner of Canal Street and Jefferson Davis Parkway. “It’s the best day since — when? Since whenever, that’s when. This blurs all the lines: racial, income, social status, everything.

“We’re just in a holding pattern today, and it’s going to stay that way for a while, at least until the parade tomorrow.”

saints-fans-tear.JPGjohn McCusker / The Times-PicayuneKaren Licciardi of River Ridge wipes away a tear as she basks in the New Orleans Saints victory in Super Bowl XLIV in Miami.

During the warm and relaxed lunch hour, Sandifer and Darlene Jenkins, a counselor, supervised a group of a half-dozen or so clients passing a football back and forth on the broad Jeff Davis neutral ground. They are people living with depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and other problems.

But perhaps they had caught the vibe, too. “The Saints are good for everybody,” Sandifer said. “They asked whether they could bring the football out here today.”

In addition to making people happy, the Saints’ 31-17 victory inspires people, said Dr. Adrianne Brennan, an assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at LSU Health Sciences Center.

Throughout the buildup to the Super Bowl, people kept talking about “believe, believe, believe,” she said. “This is what keeps people rebuilding their houses; the belief that the city will come back. The Saints are a symbol of this.”

Brennan, who described herself as “giddy and ecstatic and hopeful and in awe, watching dreams come true,” said the good feeling may well last through Mardi Gras.

“New Orleanians have this new identity now,” she said. “We’re not the underdogs. We’re on top.”

Staff writers Benjamin Alexander-Bloch and Chris Kirkham contributed to this article.

John Pope can be reached at jpope@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3317. Bruce Nolan can be reached at bnolan@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3344.

The Super Bowl champions New Orleans Saints flew home Monday afternoon to find a throng of shrieking fans at Louis Armstrong International Airport.

saints-fans-airport.JPGBrett Duke / The Times-PicayuneNew Orleans Saints fans await their team at Louis Armstrong International Airport on Monday afternoon. The team’s charter flight from Miami touched down about 3 p.m., and players, coaches and other personnel began pulling away from the general aviation terminal in their own vehicles.

But it was extremely slow going, as the motorcade inched through thick crowds that had began lining the route before 10 a.m. By the time the plane landed, the crowd stretched back 1-1/2 miles.

Driving alone, head coach Sean Payton hoisted the Vince Lombardi Trophy out of the sunroof of his Mercedes-Benz, eliciting screams.

One of the first recognizable players in the procession was linebacker Scott Fujita. Others spotted in the line of vehicles were offensive tackle Jon Stinchcomb, tight end Jeremy Shockey and wide receiver Devery Henderson.

Deuce McAllister, the former Saints running back whom the team brought back for inspiration before this year’s playoffs, also was in the motorcade. “Thanks, Deuce,” onlookers yelled.

Team owner Tom Benson and his wife, Gayle, and his granddaughter, executive vice president Rita Benson LeBlanc, also were popular with the crowd.

Earlier, an entourage of a half-dozen vehicles, one carrying Gov. Bobby Jindal, drove to the terminal to greet the team.

About a half-hour later at the Saints training facility on Airline Drive in Metairie, a crowd of a couple hundred people were gathered as six chartered buses pulled into the facility shortly after 3:30 p.m. The crowd, parked in the area between the Saints offices and the entrance into Zephyr Field, cheered as the buses pulled in, accompanied by Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s deputies.

Meanwhile, back in Kenner, loud music was blaring throughout the day, kids were throwing footballs and the mood was jubilant, with impromptu second lines breaking out periodically.

“I’m so happy that the New Orleans Saints are bringing the Vince Lombardi trophy to the city of New Orleans,” said Sam Granger, wearing a Reggie Bush jersey. “We have waited for so long.”

“We were coming today — win or lose,” said Stan Engolia of Metairie. He and his family are among the growing number of fans who greet the Saints outside the Kenner airport after every away game.

Karla Bordelon, of St. Rose, also greets the Saints after away games.

“I think it’s better than Mardi Gras,” she said.

John Bondio Jr., of Metairie, dressed up like the “Saints Hulk” wearing a gold and black mask. He looks forward to seeing the Saints after the Super Bowl win. “It’s unbelievable,” he said. “You can’t describe what happened last night.”

Kenner police set up barricades in anticipation of the crowds greeting the Saints’ private plane, Chief Steve Caraway said.

The Saints hire Kenner officers to work the team’s arrival from away games, and police have 35 to 40 officers on the route today. That’s compared to the 18 that worked the past few games.

“We’re expecting bigger crowds,” Caraway said.

Dee Duhe-Robichaux of New Orleans said she plans to attend the Saints parade Tuesday in New Orleans but wanted to greet the players at the airport today as she does after regular-season games. She showed up outside the airport at 8 a.m., despite celebrating the Saints’ Super Bowl victory most of the night.

“Right now I’m running on pure energy,” she said.