Tom Benson
American businessman and philanthropistWikipedia
54
MENTIONS
29
EPISODES
24
PODCASTS
Search complete. 54 mentions across 29 episodes found for "Tom Benson".
Oct 16, 2026
Mike HossGUEST
Uh, but Mrs. Benson is the owner of this team, and she's a great ambassador, and she's genuine, and she's a, you know, great person.
Mike HossGUEST
But you know what? She was married to Tom Benson for a long time.
Mike HossGUEST
She, so I feel like something had to be said.
Mike HossGUEST
And so I f- you know, I think she spoke kind of from the heart and kind of maybe said some things that some fans are saying, you know? But really, it's, they're in the m- in the early stages.
Mike HossGUEST
Uh, but Mrs. Benson is the owner of this team, and she's a great ambassador, and she's genuine, and she's a, you know, great person.
Mike HossGUEST
But you know what? She was married to Tom Benson for a long time, sh- so I feel like something had to be said.
Mike HossGUEST
And so I f- you know, I think she spoke kind of from the heart and kind of maybe said some things that some fans are saying, you know? But really, it's, they're in the m- in the early stages.
Mike HossGUEST
It's funny.
DrewHOST
And she knew what she was doing.
DrewHOST
Tom Benson, the former owner, many, many, many years.
DrewHOST
So this is not a situation where the Benson family is new to this.
DrewHOST
So they've been in the NFL a while.
DrewHOST
Gail was the widow of Tom Benson, who was, again, the owner and the face of the franchise for many, many years prior to that.
DrewHOST
So, again...
DrewHOST
Not good when the owner is calling him out publicly.
Zach EwingHOST
Zach Ewing here with Rod Walker, Luke Johnson, and Jeff Duncan.
Zach EwingHOST
And, um, uh, Gail Benson has kind of done some work for us, guys, because we were gonna come in here and podcast about the state of the Saints franchise and start to question Kellen Moore and Mickey Loomis and everything, um, all the decision makers over there on Airline Drive.
Zach EwingHOST
And, and instead, Gail Benson kind of did that for us yesterday at the, um, Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation luncheon, uh, Quarterback Club luncheon, Rod, and she-
Rod WalkerPANELIST
Quarterback Club
Zach EwingHOST
... yeah, she, she kind of did all the questioning that we were gonna do.
Luke JohnsonPANELIST
Um, so I mean, she had time to, time to sit down and, and think about it and think about exactly how she wanted to say it.
Luke JohnsonPANELIST
You know, it wasn't, uh, an emotional response, because if it was emotional, she, she could've like removed herself from it and, and you know, that she wanted to go out there and say what she said.
Luke JohnsonPANELIST
Um, and it, it is much more pointed when it's coming from somebody like Gail Benson, who typically doesn't, doesn't do this sort of thing.
AdamHOST
And Gayle Benson, as much as she... may move slow.
AdamHOST
One thing that you don't want to do with Gail Benson is consistently embarrass her and embarrass the legacy of Tom Benson.
AdamHOST
Because before Tom Benson passed away, the Saints had become like a pillar franchise in the NFL.
AdamHOST
It was looked upon like the Patriots and the upper echelon franchises in the NFL.
AdamHOST
A lot to do with Sean Payton and Drew Brees, but that's what the standard was.
Justin JacksonHOST
Owner Gail Benson, who has rarely been critical during her time as primary owner.
Justin JacksonHOST
Of course, after her husband Tom Benson died, she has rarely been openly critical of either franchise, the Pelicans or the Saints.
Justin JacksonHOST
Um...
Justin JacksonHOST
You know, her first major move organizationally was splitting their front offices.
Sid RosenbergHOST
...
Sid RosenbergHOST
Tom Benson's daughter, I guess, and, um, she, uh, she had a, some quarterback club luncheon in New Orleans, and she went off on Mickey Loomis, the general manager, on Kellen Moore, the head coach.
Sid RosenbergHOST
The team is one and four.
Sid RosenbergHOST
Look, I remember when I was young, I watched a guy named John Fourcade on Monday Night Football.
Mike TriplettHOST
Yeah.
Nick UnderhillHOST
And then not only did she say Calvin's name, and not only did she say Mickey's name, she preceded it by saying, "The honor of Tom Benson is being let down by how these people are running their departments, and I'm, I...
Nick UnderhillHOST
It's my job to make sure that you live up to that standard."
Mike TriplettHOST
Yeah.
Mike TriplettHOST
Yeah.
Mike TriplettHOST
And look, she, uh, we talked about that right away.
Mike TriplettHOST
That was one of the things that stood out to me most is she talked about the legacy of Tom Benson and the legacy of Drew Brees, which is probably the second-biggest name she coulda thrown out there, which was, you know, 20-year anniversary of Katrina and coming back, and then Drew Brees' Ring of Honor, and, and, and like, we let down that legacy too.
Mike TriplettHOST
I mean, she, she, sh...
Charles HanagriffHOST
Anyway, um, it's caught a lot of attention, not only that she spoke, because she doesn't speak very much, and even, uh, less in season publicly about the team.
Charles HanagriffHOST
She picked that up from Tom Benson, her late husband, who rarely did interviews.
Charles HanagriffHOST
Um, so whenever Tom Benson did go out to speak, everybody paid attention because you just didn't get very much from him publicly, and she's been kinda the same way.
Charles HanagriffHOST
So the fact that she was going out to talk about the team publicly in season is not something that's terribly common.
Charles HanagriffHOST
What she said, uh, got even more people's eyebrows raised.
Mark RomigGUEST
Yeah.
Mark RomigGUEST
You know, and you think about what, um, M- Mrs. Benson, of course, Mr., Mr. Tom Benson prior to that, the, the leadership that they've shown over the years, I think, uh, yesterday was, uh, one of those important days, uh, for Mrs. Benson and the Saints organization for her to say that, and to express that for the, for the fans particularly.
Newell NormandHOST
Absolutely.
Newell NormandHOST
Mark, you have been a senior advi- you're a senior advisor now, former senior vice president and chief marketing officer at New Orleans & Company.
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