New Orleans is jazzed during parade for Super Bowl champions | NFL

NEW ORLEANS — Only a Super Bowl victory parade could upstage Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

Carnival floats carrying Saints players, coaches and team owner Tom Benson rolled past tens of thousands of jubilant fans in downtown New Orleans on Tuesday, two days after the 43-year-old franchise won its first NFL championship.

Players, wearing team jerseys instead of traditional Carnival masks and costumes, tossed beads into the crowd and signed autographs for throngs of screaming fans.

Benson shouted "Who Dat!" into a microphone from his perch atop a float. Coach Sean Payton blew kisses and held the Lombardi Trophy over his head.

"Here's to the best Mardi Gras week in the history of this city," said Payton, raising a glass of champagne during a toast outside the city's historic Gallier Hall.

The parade, a week before the city's signature Fat Tuesday celebration, started outside the team's turf at the Louisiana Superdome. Black, gold and white confetti floated over the crowd and a man wearing a Saints jacket held aloft a sign that read, "Happy Lombardi Gras!"

Floats stopped at a reviewing stand so elected officials, including Mayor Ray Nagin, Gov. Bobby Jindal and Sens. Mary Landrieu and David Vitter, could toast the team's 31-17 Super Bowl victory over the Indianapolis Colts.

"How's the 'Who Dat' nation feel tonight?" Saints quarterback Drew Brees — the Super Bowl most valuable player — yelled when his float stopped at the reviewing stand.

"This toast goes out to you. We love you and we won that championship for you."

More than a dozen marching bands joined the team on its route, which passed by the edge of the French Quarter and ended at the city's convention center. An official crowd estimate wasn't immediately available, but many fans said the gathering seemed larger than any during Mardi Gras.

"This is wilder than Mardi Gras," said Frank V. Smith, 55, a lifelong New Orleans resident who shot photographs of players from the rear of a pickup truck. "I've never seen so many people out here like this. This is beautiful, man."

Fans are grateful for more than the team's on-field performance. Many members of "Who Dat" nation credit the team with uniting a city that has struggled with racial divisions and labored to rebuild in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which left about 85 percent of the city underwater in August 2005.

"After the hurricane, people were more willing to come back when they realized the Saints were coming back," said Scott Catalanotto, 35, whose 7-year-old son sat on a ladder and yelled for beads.

Fans started staking out spots along the parade route more than seven hours before the floats rolled.