February 9
New Orleans Times-Picayune
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After about 2 1/2 hours of sleep, Saints quarterback Drew Brees said he woke up Monday morning and turned to his wife, Brittany, and asked her, "Did yesterday really happen?" His coach, Sean Payton, woke up next to the Vince Lombardi Trophy, which he said he took to bed with him at around 3 a.m. after a raucous victory celebration at the team hotel in downtown Miami after their thrilling 31-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV. "This thing laid in my bed next to me last night. I rolled over a couple times, probably drooled on it," said Payton, who said before he climbed in bed, he took time to pray, thanking God for the opportunity to coach this Saints team and play a ..."
February 9
New Orleans Times-Picayune
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When Dan "Chief" Simmons was hired by the Saints as equipment manager in 1973, the head coach who hired him, J.D. Roberts, was fired before the start of the season -- replaced in training camp by then-assistant John North. And in the regular-season opener that year against the Atlanta Falcons at Tulane Stadium, the Saints lost 62-7. "I'm wondering, 'What the heck did I get into?' " Simmons, the longest-tenured Saints employee said Monday morning, basking in the afterglow of New Orleans' 31-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday night. "I remember back then they didn't have the nets behind the goal posts, and we ran out of game balls because the Falcons were ..."
February 9
New Orleans Times-Picayune
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On the morning after, having saluted the winning coach and MVP of Super Bowl XLIV, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell still was shaking his head after leaving the media center. "You think of the story and all you do is keep coming back to the word 'magical,' " he said Monday. All week long, it was a story told -- over and over -- how this championship was more than just a football game, how the Saints were more than just a football team, how the success of the Saints demonstrated the "value of sports," not only to a city, but to a region."
February 9
New Orleans Times-Picayune
columnist Jeff Duncan
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Here's a scary thought for the rest of the NFL: What if the Saints aren't one-year wonders? What if they're here for a while? What if they're -- dare I say it -- an emerging dynasty? It might sound crazy. After all, the Saints had to wait 43 years to win their first world title. But laugh not. The Saints are poised for a lengthy run of contention. It has been the plan of Coach Sean Payton all along to build a perennial contender such as New England, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis or Philadelphia. In Year 4 of his tenure, he has accomplished his goal of winning the Super Bowl."
February 9
New Orleans Times-Picayune
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With the stench of beer and whiskey still seeping through their pores, the Saints staggered their way through a gauntlet of fans in the lobby of their downtown hotel, still wearing smiles and some of their NFL championship garb Monday morning. It all felt like a dream. But many of them hadn't been to sleep since beating the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 in Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday night, so this had to be real. "It's still sinking in," linebacker Scott Fujita said. "I haven't slept, yet. I'm still hung over. I'm running on fumes." Many New Orleans players shared Fujita's sentiments, if not his inebriated state. "I don't think it did set in until we all got back here, and we had time to ..."
February 9
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
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Ten minutes before walking into his morning-after Super Bowl news conference, Saints coach Sean Payton took a congratulatory call from one of his greatest mentors. It was Dolphins football czar Bill Parcells, who hired Payton to his Dallas staff and employed him from 2003-05. "He was just proud," a bleary-eyed Payton said, refusing to divulge any details of the conversation. "Proud and, uh, proud." What about the successful onside kick Payton called to open the second half in Sunday's 31-17 upset of the Colts? What about the fourth-and-goal attempt late in the first half? What did Parcells think of his pupil taking a classic page from his mentor's big-game handbook?"
February 9
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
columnist Tom Silverstein
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New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton excused himself, walked to a table and brought the Vince Lombardi Trophy back with him to the podium where he was conducting a post-Super Bowl news conference Monday morning. Payton wanted to share the special meaning the trophy has to New Orleans, the Saints organization and especially a particular member of his coaching staff. To him, it was almost ordained that the Lombardi Trophy, the symbol of Super Bowl victory, was in the Saints' hands. "Last night at about midnight, we grabbed this trophy and one of our coaches, his name is Joe Lombardi - he's Vince Lombardi's grandson - and Joe Lombardi, his father Vince Jr., his two brothers sat and posed with ..."
February 9
New Orleans Times-Picayune
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Some of the loudest cheers Monday from fans greeting the New Orleans Saints at the Louis Armstrong International Airport were not for a player or coach. The decibels were highest when coach Sean Payton lifted the Vince Lombardi trophy, given to the Super Bowl championship team, from the sunroof of his sedan. Fans ran alongside Payton's Mercedes-Benz, some videotaping him and the trophy, others just cheering and waving. "It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," Kenner resident Rolita Small said. As they do after every away game, throngs of fans met the Saints at the airport, a tradition that is unique among National Football League teams. Members of the Saints organization line up ..."
February 8
Miami Herald
columnist Linda Robertson
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Like New Orleans, Drew Brees once was left for dead. He was damaged. He became a reclamation project. Few had faith in his future. ``Who dat?'' might have been a question about Brees when he came back from shoulder surgery. But not now, not after Brees led the New Orleans Saints to a 31-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV. Not after his acceptance of the MVP trophy started a celebration back home in the City That Care Forgot, a celebration that will make the typical Mardi Gras seem like a tea party. One day, it will sound like a fable: Quarterback decides to reincarnate his career in New Orleans, ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, so he can help reincarnate the city. While ..."
February 8
Houston Chronicle
columnist Richard Justice
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Tracy Porter knew the play was coming. He'd studied it for days, thought about it, prepared for it. He watched so much of the Indianapolis Colts in these situations that he believed he could think along with Peyton Manning. He convinced himself that this Super Bowl might go right through him. Every player in Super Bowl 44 probably thought the same thing. They were all going to be heroes. Let's face it, champions aren't timid. New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees said early in the week his teammates had been jittery, nervous, anxious. By Thursday, everything had changed. The Saints believed they were so well prepared that this opportunity would become their moment. "We were confident," ..."
February 8
New Orleans Times-Picayune
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Years from now, when the memories of Sunday begin to fade, New Orleans Saints fans will still remember where they were when cornerback Tracy Porter intercepted Colts quarterback Peyton Manning and returned the ball 70 yards for the decisive touchdown of Super Bowl XLIV. As the score flashed 31-17 and the game clock ticked away, Who Dat chants began to fall like a shower over Sun Life Stadium in Miami and fans across metro New Orleans screamed, hugged and cried -- free at last from 43 years of frustrations. The Saints, our lovable underdogs, are world champions. New Orleans native Peyton Manning and the Colts played their hearts out. But they were no match for a squad that through this ..."
February 8
New Orleans Times-Picayune
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Several hours after the New Orleans Saints won their first Super Bowl, things seemed to have finally quieted down in the French Quarter, ar at least, the upper end, away from the raucous crowds of Bourbon Street. The crowds of black-and-gold-clad revelers, the bubbles, the balloons, the confetti, the shouting, the lusty singing, the emotion that threatened to overload everything -- all seemed to have faded a bit. Suddenly, a small band materialized. It was followed by a rag-tag parade. "Who Dat"was the cry and it echoed off the old buildings as feather boas, ballooons and hand grenades accompanied the black and gold faithful through the streets. "Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints!?!" ..."
February 8
New Orleans Times-Picayune
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New Orleans won the Super Bowl before the first snap. More than the lift it gave the team's fans, more than a national introduction to a New Orleans civic entity actually executing a sophisticated task at a consistent level of excellence, the greatest benefit of the New Orleans Saints' playoff run was the attention their city received from all kinds of outside news media curious about the Who Dat Nation's capital city. It was a weeks-long love letter. The Super Bowl was held where? Miami? You would have barely known that from the pregame coverage. The Saints-charged national interest in New Orleans comes at the beginning of a year that promises plenty of it. The HBO drama "Treme, " which ..."
February 8
New Orleans Times-Picayune
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OK, all you Perfect Peyton haters, you can now give it a rest. He isn't perfect, after all. And that might be the most stunning news from Super Bowl XLIV. While The Who Dat Nation is probably still dancing in the streets savoring the incredible underdog-comes-from-behind 31-17 victory Sunday, the football world outside those boundaries still is trying to accept how it happened. Because the key play was a mistake by the greatest player in the game. It was an interception thrown at the pivotal moment by a future Hall of Fame quarterback -- and his name wasn't Brett Favre. The scene was set for another one of those Peystonesque comebacks. The score was 24-17 with just 3 minutes, 24 seconds ..."
February 8
New Orleans Times-Picayune
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Despite running the ball and protecting their quarterback well, the Indianapolis Colts simply didn't have enough answers for the New Orleans Saints in Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday night. Afterward, Colts players still seemed stunned by their 31-17 defeat. "I can't say I foresaw it coming at all, " center Jeff Saturday said. "I felt like we had the team to take this thing out, and they just outplayed us." Said Indianapolis tight end Dallas Clark: "It's miserable. It's not the way you want to end a season. It's still too early to be able to comment fully on how you feel, but it's not good." From the Colts perspective, Super Bowl XLIV provided the moment in which they would be stamped as ..."
February 8
New Orleans Times-Picayune
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The gutsiest coach ever to walk the sideline for the New Orleans Saints saved his most daring call for the biggest game in franchise history. Yes, they're made of brass. And because of that, Sean Payton and the Saints own a prize that's sterling silver -- the Lombardi Trophy, earned by the NFL champion, which New Orleans assuredly and emphatically is after posting a 31-17 victory over Indianapolis in Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday at Sun Life Stadium. The title game will be remembered for many things -- Tracy Porter's theft of a Peyton Manning pass and 74-yard return for the clinching score, Drew Brees' pinpoint accuracy (32-of-39 for 288 yards and two touchdowns en route to being selected ..."
February 8
New Orleans Times-Picayune
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OK, now that we have your attention – good game, huh? – there's a few things we'd like to clear up. First of all, you may as well get used to seeing us at the Super Bowl. Because about 100 million TV people saw something during the game Sunday night that countless national media "experts" couldn't see before: We belong. We also hate to miss a good party. And you know what? The Super Bowl is one hell of a party. And that was true even before the public address announcer cranked up "Iko Iko" on the stadium loudspeakers after the Lombardi Trophy presentation ceremony. One other thing. We know what sticklers you are for legal documentation, so please consider this our formal written notice of ..."
February 8
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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It took guts. Coach Sean Payton's decision to try an onside kick to open the second half was stunning. It took precision. Most Valuable Player Drew Brees completed 82.1% of his 39 passes, including 16 of 17 in the second half. It took resolve. Two failed running plays from the 1-yard line near the end of the first half might have ruined a weaker team. One year after the Arizona Cardinals came within a last-ditch drive by the Pittsburgh Steelers of becoming the National Football League's most unlikely champion, the New Orleans Saints became exactly that champion Sunday night in the 10th Super Bowl played in South Florida. A five-point underdog against Peyton Manning and the battle-hardened ..."
February 8
New Orleans Times-Picayune
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Sunday started in New Orleans with the Rev. Monsignor Crosby W. Kern celebrating Mass with a Drew Brees jersey underneath his vestments. It ended in Miami Gardens with Brees standing atop a gridiron altar to accept the Pete Rozelle Trophy as the MVP of Super Bowl XLIV after his near flawless performance led the New Orleans Saints to their first world championship. They elected a new mayor in New Orleans on Saturday. They will crown a new king of Carnival next week. But New Orleans is and forever will be Brees' town. He'll never buy another drink, never purchase another meal and never pay another parking ticket. It's his faubourg. We're just living in it. The Saints quarterback etched his ..."
February 8
New Orleans Times-Picayune
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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. 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 the New Orleans Saints have become Super Bowl XLIV champions for the first time in their 43-year history, thanks ..."