On Monday, October 5, Frenchy set up his easel on the Saints sideline at the Superdome and painted the Saints against the Atlanta Falcons, live, as ESPN’s Monday Night Football went out to the country. Twenty years earlier, on September 25, 2006, he stood on the same sideline for the Domecoming, the Saints’ first home game after Hurricane Katrina, against the same Falcons.
By the end of the night, he had a new original: Saints vs. Falcons: The Domecoming, acrylic on canvas, 30 x 40 inches.
Two decades on one canvas
The painting carries both nights. At the top, Steve Gleason, #37, lays out for the blocked punt that became the moment of the Domecoming. Behind him sits the Superdome, and below it a crowd in purple, green and gold. In the foreground, today’s Saints quarterback, Tyler Shough, drops back to throw: 2006 and 2026 on one canvas.
Frenchy painted it in a #37 jersey of his own.
On the broadcast
ESPN brought viewers to the sideline during the game, putting Frenchy on screen at the easel as “Frenchy, New Orleans Artist.” It’s a fitting place for him. Frenchy has worked alongside the Monday Night Football crew since 2003, painting the trucks, the booth and the people behind the broadcast, and ESPN’s own press room has written about that history.
Sold, and giving back
The original has already found its new home, and 80% of the proceeds are being donated to Team Gleason, the foundation Steve Gleason started to help people living with ALS live full, purposeful lives. The painting started with Gleason’s blocked punt, and now it comes back around to support his foundation. Thank you to the collector who made that happen.
Want to support Team Gleason too? Visit teamgleason.org.
Back on the sideline Sunday
Frenchy isn’t done with this season. He’ll be back on the Saints sideline on Sunday, October 11, to paint the Saints vs. the Minnesota Vikings live at the Caesars Superdome, on a big day for the Who Dat Nation: at halftime, Drew Brees will be inducted into the Saints Ring of Honor. Brees arrived in New Orleans in 2006, the same season as the Domecoming. Kickoff is at noon Central on FOX.
Follow @frenchylive on Instagram to watch it come together.
Relive the Domecoming
Frenchy’s story through those years is told in King of Oak Street, the documentary that started filming the night before Hurricane Katrina and is streaming free on the site. His serigraph of the blocked punt, “Not Today”, and more paintings from the Saints years are below.
