New Orleans Saints are Super Bowl XLIV champions

By Mike Triplett, The Times-Picayune

February 08, 2010, 1:10AM

MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. - After the confetti had dropped, after the tears were shed, after they stood in front of the cameras and the microphones and tried to put the greatest night of their professional lives in perspective, Sean Payton and Drew Brees shared a quiet moment together.

Ted Jackson/The Times-PicayuneNew Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton and Super Bowl XLIV MVP Drew Brees take in the moment after their 31-17 win over the Indianapolis Colts gave the franchise its first world championship Sunday in Miami.They hopped on the back of a golf cart, each with a hand on the shiny silver Vince Lombardi Trophy that rested in Payton's lap, each with a wide grin across their faces.

"Don't you just want it to slow down and last longer?" the coach said to his quarterback.

Lucky for them, the feeling won't go away any time soon, now that theNew Orleans Saints have becomeSuper Bowl XLIV champions for the first time in their 43-year history, thanks to a thrilling 31-17victory over the Indianapolis Coltsat Sun Life Stadium on Sunday night.

The victory party will last into the early morning hours today and spill into a championship parade Tuesday evening that will meld into the most exuberant Mardi Gras week the city has ever seen.

The champions of the world call New Orleans home. Who would have believed Dat?

"New Orleans is back, and we showed the whole world!" Owner Tom Benson exclaimed on the stage at midfield, as the thousands of Who Datsin attendance screamed their approval.

Payton followed him, saying there wasn't enough room on the stage for all the players who made it happen, and then he turned the microphone over to Brees, introducing him as "the MVP of this Super Bowl and the MVP of our league."

It's hard to argue after Brees' brilliant performance on the game's brightest stage.

To earn that trophy, the Saints had to navigate their way through three potential Hall of Fame quarterbacks in Arizona's Kurt Warner, Minnesota's Brett Favre and Indianapolis' Peyton Manning.

Brees was better than all of them, especially Sunday night when he directed the go-ahead touchdown drive and two-point conversion midway through the fourth quarter.

"It's unbelievable. I mean it's sunk in, but I don't know if it's really sunk in yet, " said Brees, who said he doesn't usually have trouble sleeping but admitted that he couldn't sleep the past two nights as he ran through all the possible scenarios he might face in the game.

Then it happened for real Sunday, when the Saints took over possession from their 41-yard line with 10:39 remaining, down 17-16.

After a 12-yard run by tailback Reggie Bush, Brees took over. He completed all eight of his pass attempts over the next nine plays to eight different receivers, including a 2-yard touchdown strike to tight end Jeremy Shockey and the two-point conversion toss to receiver Lance Moore, giving the Saints a 24-17 lead with 5:42 remaining.

"Listen, we spread the ball around all year long. You never knew when it was gonna be time for someone else to step up, " said Brees, who completed 32 of 39 passes for 288 yards with two touchdown passes and no interceptions. "And I can't say enough about our offensive line, going up against one of the best pass-rushing defenses in the league."

Manning -- the league's regular-season MVP -- couldn't match Brees' heroics.

Scott Threlkeld/The Times-PicayuneNew Orleans Saints cornerback Tracy Porter returns an interception thrown by Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning 74 yards for a touchdown that sealed the Saints' 31-17 Super Bowl XLIV victory Sunday in Miami.Minutes later, the Colts' quarterback and New Orleans native threw an interception right into the arms of Saints cornerback Tracy Porter, who returned the ball 74 yards for the game-clinching score.

"It was great film study. The coaching staff did a great job of preparing us for that route, " said Porter, who explained that once he saw Colts receiver Austin Collie go in motion, he knew what route his man, receiver Reggie Wayne, would run, and he jumped in front of it.

"He made a great play. Made a great play. That's all I can say about it. Porter made a heck of a play, " said a dejected Manning, who was pretty terrific himself until that final drive. "They deserved the win today."

The Saints' victory was a total team effort -- a microcosm of their entire season.

After the Colts jumped to a 10-0 lead, the offense and defense settled down. Brees said they talked before the game about needing to just "weather the storm" and make sure their nerves and adrenaline didn't get the best of them.

Kicker Garrett Hartley kept the Saints afloat with two first-half field goals of 46 and 44 yards, and later added a 47-yarder to become the first kicker to make three from more than 40 yards in a Super Bowl.

That wasn't the greatest special teams moment, though. Coming out of halftime, trailing 10-6, Payton decided to dial up an onside kick. The Saints had worked on it in practice over the past two weeks, but kicker Thomas Morstead was stunned when he was told they were putting it into action right before he took the field.

"I wasn't worried, " Morstead said. "I was terrified."

He pulled it off, though, and safety Chris Reis and linebacker Jonathan Casillas were there for the recovery.

Six plays later, the Saints led 13-10 after a 16-yard screen pass from Brees to Pierre Thomas, aided by outstanding blocks by center Jonathan Goodwin and guard Jahri Evans.

After the game, Morstead found former NBA star and coach Avery Johnson in the locker room and made a point to thank him for his words in a pregame motivational speech.

Johnson had told the players to play their role, to be themselves as they had all season, and that would be enough to win this game.

Morstead said as a rookie, it was important for him to remember that he just had to be himself in this game.

Johnson, who told the team this summer to "be special, " told them before Sunday's game that they had made it through the letter "A" against Minnesota when they had the right attitude and annihilated the quarterback. And now it was time for the letter "L" to finish it off.

"He said if it's your job to be a leader, lead. If it's your job to make the guys laugh, do that, " linebacker Scott Shanle said. "Don't change what you've done all year just because it's a big game. Hey, this team doesn't have more Pro Bowlers than everyone else in the league or more talent across the board. But nobody cares about each other more than we do."

At the next locker, veteran linebacker Scott Fujita was celebrating the victory. He talked about the moment when his wife, Jaclyn, and twin daughters and his mother and Jaclyn's mother came onto the field. He said it was the moment he had been visualizing all week when he couldn't sleep, either.

"It was unbelievable, watching my girls out there trying to catch the confetti, " said Fujita, who also talked about joining the celebration that's about to erupt in New Orleans. "I'm gonna be drunk for about 30 days, " Fujita said.

Shanle and Fujita were two of the guys who arrived in 2006 - castoffs from the Dallas Cowboys who came at the same time as Payton and Brees and a handful of others and started building this championship team.

Brees talked about how they've come together and realized that God has a plan for them, even if you might be questioning what it is at the time - like he did when he suffered a major shoulder injury that ended his tenure in San Diego.

Brees also talked about playing for a city and a region that rebuilt along with him after Hurricane Katrina, and he talked about a "Who Dat nation that has been behind us every step of the way."

And he also talked about that moment on the field with his wife Brittany and 1-year-old son Baylen, who's had a "crazy life so far."

"Hopefully it only gets better, " Brees said.

Then when he was finally done talking to wave after wave of reporters, he went into a small room to remove his jersey and shoulder pads and share some hugs with the team equipment managers and another special "Who Dat" who was in attendance -- former Saints linebacker Rickey Jackson,who one day earlier had become the first Hall of Famer in the franchise's history.

Based on what he has accomplished over the past four years and what he did on this field Sunday, Brees is well on his way to joining him in Canton.

Mike Triplett can be reached at mtriplett@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3405.

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Posted by s97fever

February 08, 2010, 1:36AM

Congrats to our Superbowl linebackers.

A lot of people gave them grief wanting our "slow" linebackers to trade in for others! How thankful I am that the Saints coaches didn't listen to us?

They are the best we could ever have.... but the Saints fans are still right about Jason David and Fred Thomas! That's why we needed Tracy Porter on that side!