Trademark Nation: Who Dat Who Own ‘Who Dat? ‘

Article was originally published February 4, 2010 in the Huffington Post.

Had Saints fans chanted, "Who Are Those Who Claim They Can Defeat The Saints, Who Are Those?" then perhaps the NFL would not have found itself in a trademark dispute last week, but instead the fans chanted, "Who Dat Who Say Dey Beat Dem Saints, Who Dat, Who Dat", and there you are.

The origins of Who Dat? are lost in the misty recesses of jargon, but some trace the cheer back to a Louisiana high school team. By 1983 Aaron Neville had recorded a version for the Saints, then referred to as the Aints. The Saints, by the way, got their name from the gospel song, which got the name from Catholicism.

Now the Saints are going to the Super Bowl®. Governor Jindal proclaimed this week Who Dat Nation Week, and Who Dat t-shirts are flying off the shelves in New Orleans as well as in Florida, where the Big Game® will be played.