Angela Austin figures "Big O" pulled off a big orchestration from heaven. "I know he's looking down, smiling," she said.
Oscar "Big O" Austin, who passed away two days after Christmas Day 2023, absolutely would be wearing an ear-to-ear smile on his face upon learning that Angela, his wife, was named New Orleans Saints Fan of the Year for 2025.
The legacy of fandom Big O helped create — the Uptown Tailgaters (UPT) — has been ably extended with help from "Mrs. Big O," a certified surgical technologist at Ochsner Baptist Hospital who met Oscar in 2005 and started tailgating with him that season, in the UPT spot under the Claiborne Ave. bridge, which features a picturesque view of the Caesars Superdome.
"It didn't surprise me (she was named Fan of the Year)," said Jimmie Pierre, Oscar's 'little big brother' and a UPT member who keeps close tabs on Angela since Oscar's passing. "But, I mean, out of millions of people — it's like winning the lottery. She deserves it. I think her husband was looking down and said, 'We're going to make this happen.' I know he's smiling and grinning."
Angela said Oscar's family has had season tickets since 1967, at Tulane Stadium. "My husband's parents passed away and we got the tickets," she said. "And when my husband passed away, I was like, this is legacy."
Her shepherding of the tickets through generations is proof positive of her dedication to the team. "They asked me what makes me a good Saints fan. And I thought: Loyalty, because the Austins have been season ticket holders since 1967; love, because we love the Saints; and definitely legacy, because I'll be able to pass that on to our children and our grandchildren.
"We initially had seven seats in the Superdome. After my husband passed, I went down to four seats, which was the original four — him, his mom, his dad and his sister — and I ended up with an extra seat, so I have five seats."
GAME DAY
The UPT formed in 2000, a collaborative effort by Oscar and his childhood friends. "My husband grew up in Hollygrove, so him and the guys that he grew up with used to play football on the lot where the house is that we live in now," Angela said. "All of those guys were all Saints fans, so they all decided to get together and start tailgating — him and a couple of his friends."
The spirit caught like wildfire. "As time went on more people in the neighborhood started joining in. So (when) we have the home games, we (tailgate) under (the Claiborne bridge). We started getting a deejay, cooking — seafood, hot dogs, nachos. Just a party. We purchased a portable bathroom. Not like a port-a-potty, but an actual bathroom with music, air, heat, flushing toilets, washing your hands. So we incorporated that into the tailgate. We just loved it."
And the party didn't stop when the Saints left town. "We tailgated at our home. We would have, like, 100 people at our house and do these really nice, big tailgate parties."
The tradition has carried on without Oscar. Arrival time under the bridge is 8 a.m. for a noon kickoff — 6 a.m. for the men charged with cleaning out the space.
Kickoff on this day is 3:25 p.m., with the Falcons visiting the Saints in the Superdome. Angela and the UPT ladies are wearing split-colored jerseys — half white, half gold – with numbers belonging either to running back Alvin Kamara (No. 41) or receiver Chris Olave (12). "I just know he's so proud of me. My husband was a big presence out here," Angela said.
There's a row of six chairs aligned; the first chair on the right has Angela's Fan of the Year jersey draped over it (she'll wear it to the game), the third chair has Big O's jersey — he was 6-foot-7 and wore a six 6x shirt— draped over it, and in front of the chairs is a table on which rests framed photos from past tailgates. Many feature Oscar — whose charming, smiling face bears a striking resemblance to Philip Banks of Fresh Prince.
"I went to that very first game after my husband passed, and I just was boo-hooing," she said. "So I haven't been attending the games as much, but I kept the tickets."
SURPRISE
Perhaps only slightly less than being Fan of the Year, Angela loved how she was informed. She unknowingly had been nominated by a friend who knew her story and passed it along to the organization. Team representatives attempted to surprise her with the news at her seat in the Superdome — Section 124, Row 1 — during a game in October, but she wasn't there because she was on a birthday cruise.
"So they ended up sending me an email, asking me to come to the facility," she said.
Then began the shenanigans, with Saints edge rusher Cameron Jordan, the franchise all-time leader with 128 sacks, entering the room with a jersey in hand that Angela didn't properly inspect.
"When Cam walked in, I started telling him, 'I know you don't remember me, but I work for Ochsner Baptist! I'm a surgical tech and was in the delivery for two of your kids," she said. "I'm just talking, and Cam has this jersey in his hand and I'm looking at it but it has (the number) 25. I'm thinking Reggie Bush, because he was No. 25. I'm like, 'Why does he have a Reggie Bush jersey?'
"Finally, he was like, 'Read it.' I read it, and they all said, 'You are the Saints Fan of the Year!' I went there thinking I was just going to be interviewed, but I left there as the Saints Fan of the Year 2025.
"I'm just overwhelmed. I feel like it's come full circle. My husband was the ultimate Saints fan, for sure. I'm coming up on the two-year anniversary of his death, and I just know he's looking down from heaven, so proud."
Each team's Fan of the Year receives tickets to attend the Super Bowl. This year, the Super Bowl will be played at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Cal., on Feb. 8, 2026. "We always wanted to go to the Super Bowl and just never had the opportunity. I've never been to California, I've never been to the Super Bowl."
The honor caught Angela by surprise and, in many ways, felt like divine recognition — not just for herself, but for the legacy she and Oscar built together.
"I'm so humbled, because I was like, 'Do you know how many Saints fans they have?' Angela said. "Not just in New Orleans, I'm talking about all over the world. And for me to be nominated, it's just a blessing and I'm just so grateful and thankful. Even though it's a celebration of his passing, it's a celebration of his life, and of our life together."
Help crown Angela "Mrs. Big O" Austin the NFL 2025 Fan of the Year. Vote now through February 7.
