ROUSES_Fall2023_Magazine

page, and then I go from there. It’s fun — and it’s more fun when we’re winning.” On a typical game day now, the Romig legacy is impossible to miss inside the Superdome. There’s the Jerry Romig House Control Booth, named, of course, in honor of the legendary patriarch, and Jay is running the clock in addition to “putting out all sorts of fires,” laughs Mary Beth. Mark and Mary Beth ride to and from the games together in addition to working side by side throughout the game, and each has a unique snack they eat before settling into their high-pressure roles: chicken fingers from the Superdome concessions for Mary Beth and candy — like Twix and Snickers — for Mark. And while she doesn’t attend Saints games in person anymore, Janice Romig, the family’s 91-year-old matriarch, is always tuned in at home while wearing a Saints outfit, praying the rosary, and watching the television with the sound turned down and WWL Radio turned up. “We’re together at least five or six hours on those Sundays,” says Mark. “It’s a real blessing to be with them, like going to church almost, or having Sunday dinner together.” “When you think that there are only 32 teams in the entire league — so that’s 32 public address teams — I would love to know if there are any other public address teams in the NFL that are a family like we are. I mean, literally, a family. All of us up there,” says Mary Beth. “It’s just been tremendous fun and a serious honor that I don’t take lightly. I’m thankful that my brothers and I — well, all of our siblings — we dearly enjoy each other’s company. I mean, I would dare say if they didn’t enjoy my company, it would make for a long afternoon.”

all the fans saying, ‘Move dem chains!’ It was interesting to export some of our calls over to England.” Mary Beth, who jokes that Mark didn’t “cut her from the team” as a spotter when he took over as announcer for their father, has one of the most fascinating and too-often unsung (in my humble opinion) positions within the complex web that makes up the game day experience at the Superdome. Spotters are the people who stand on either side of the stadium announcer and watch every play to tell the announcer who does what: the person to whom the quarterback throws the ball; who makes each tackle; and how far the teams gain all fall under the spotter’s watchful eye — a huge responsibility if there ever was one. In the early 1990s, one of Jerry Romig’s spotters decided to retire from the position, and Mary Beth had the opportunity to begin what would become a decades-spanning run in the position. “My dad knew that I was a huge sports lover and Saints fan, and he asked me if I would start spotting for him. Are you kidding? Duh.” “I was raised on football,” says Mary Beth. “I mean, we all know football. Even my daughter was raised on football — we just know the game. I think the hardest part probably for me is visiting team defense. Because offense, by the time you get to the regular season, you pretty much have your stable of players. And I know the Saints team by heart, but defense is hard because many more people play defense. But I have a notebook and I make cheat sheets the day before every game because the flip cards have really, really tiny print. So, I have the Saints offense listed, and on the facing page, the opponent’s defense. I open it to that

announcer, but he used to leave most games at halftime and go home and watch the second half from his house,” Mary Beth laughs. “So, when he got the job as the announcer, it was this family joke that, ‘Well, now you have to stay for the entire game. You can’t leave!’” “I wasn’t going to change up some things that my dad had created as signature calls, like his, ‘First down, Saints!’ and his ‘Touchdown, Saints!’ and “It’s good!’ when they would kick a field goal or an extra point. I tried to mimic Dad’s way of doing that and I’ve kept those in place,” explains Mark. “Some of the newer ones that started since I’ve been announcing is my third down call, where I stretch out third down, and that gets the crowds going. Then my other one is ‘First down Saints, move dem chains!’ and when I say ‘Move dem chains!’ I hear the fans through the glass wall saying, ‘Move dem chains!’ That’s become somewhat of an iconic call now. I think it becomes familiar and something that they can all join in no matter where they’re seated or where you’re from — everyone comes together. It’s like all barriers are broken down once everyone’s in that Superdome, because we’re all Saints fans. It’s been a joy just to see that spirit of comrade ship. I can hear them emulating that.” It was so iconic, in fact, that it caught on immediately when Mark was announcing a Saints game in London. “We were at Tottenham Stadium, a soccer stadium, and they have a lot of soccer fans [in London] who follow the NFL. When the Saints would have a first down, and I would say ‘First down, Saints, move dem chains!’, at first they weren’t catching on to that, because there aren’t chains in soccer. But toward the middle of the game, you could hear

THERE’S ALWAYS BEEN A MEMBER OF THE ROMIG FAMILY WORKING INSIDE THE SUPERDOME — WHICH IS QUICKLY APPROACHING ITS 50TH ANNIVERSARY — IN SOME CAPACITY OR OTHER SINCE IT WAS CONSTRUCTED.

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Photos courtesy NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune | The Advocate