Avery Johnson keeps the football in his office in Dallas, Texas.

It’s one of the game balls handed out in the locker room that September night 20 years ago, when the New Orleans Saints returned to the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina.

I know what you’re probably asking.

Why does the New Orleans native, a former NBA basketball player and coach, have a football in his office?

Well, here’s the story.

The year was 2004.

Johnson was an assistant coach for the Dallas Mavericks under Don Nelson.

One day, Johnson got word that one of the Dallas Cowboys’ assistant coaches wanted to meet him. That coach was Sean Payton, who at the time was an assistant coach for the Dallas Cowboys under Bill Parcells.

The two became good friends.

Johnson was named the Mavericks’ head coach in March 2005 when Nelson retired. Seven months later, Payton was named head coach of the Saints.

Right in the middle of those two hirings was a hurricane that devastated New Orleans and the entire Gulf Coast.

Uncertainty was everywhere.

Payton held his first Saints’ training camp in Jackson, Mississippi, at Millsaps College.

He invited Johnson to Jackson to speak to the team. Johnson still remembers the message he gave that day.  

“Seize every second of the season,” Johnson told the Saints.

And that’s what they did, going on the road to beat the Cleveland Browns and Green Bay Packers to start the season. Then returned to the Dome to play the Falcons in that highly anticipated game that symbolized hope and resiliency.

Johnson watched that Monday night from the sideline, just a few yards away from Payton. It didn’t take long for Johnson (and the other 70,000-plus fans) to see that football was indeed back. Gleason’s blocked punt came on the Falcons’ first possession.

“I’ve been in stadiums and arenas all over the world,” Johnson said. “I’m serious when I say this — I  thought the roof on the Dome was going to collapse. There was so much pent-up emotion for the team coming back. I have never in my life been in an arena or stadium that loud.”

After the Saints’ 23-3 victory, Payton presented Johnson with one of the game balls.

“I gave it to Mr. and Mrs. Benson and told them to send me another one,” Johnson said.

They sent him one that now sits in his office. His Saints’ memorabilia doesn’t end there, though. Three seasons later, the Saints gave Johnson a Super Bowl ring. There aren’t many people walking the earth who own both a Super Bowl ring and an NBA championship ring.

Johnson earned his NBA ring in 1999 while playing for the San Antonio Spurs.

He earned his Super Bowl ring by delivering another prophetic speech to those 2009 Saints.  

His message to that team? “You are special.”

And boy were they special.

“We all know what happened that year,” Johnson said. “The rest is history.”