"You get a chance to add the explosiveness of Reggie Bush to your team, and that's something that comes along maybe every five, 10 years. I don't care what the Jets offered us. We were keeping the pick. If that's a gamble, I'll gamble like that every time." -- Sean Payton, the day of the 2006 NFL draft, after the Saints eschewed offers to trade down and instead stayed with their first-round slot and picked USC tailback Reggie Bush.
NEW ORLEANS -- Where were you when the Saints won it all? It's one of those questions -- like, Where were you during the Apollo 11 moon landing? -- that will be asked a lot in the decades to come by generations of sports fans trying to put their lives in the context of something far bigger.
MIAMI -- Fresh off a vindicating Super Bowl XLIV victory that took the franchise to the NFL mountaintop for the first time in its 43-year existence, the New Orleans Saints today plunge into an offseason unlike any in recent league history.
Three people were shot amid celebrations surrounding the New Orleans Saints' Super Bowl win, police said Monday.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- There is little doubt that when Peyton Manning's career ends, he will have made his case as the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL. Shoot, at age 33, he has his case. He is already in the Top 5 in just about every passing category -- completions, yards, touchdowns, and so on. He has won four MVP awards, more than anybody including Jim Brown, John Unitas and Brett Favre. He has led the Colts to seven consecutive 12-win seasons; that's a record too.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Gregg Williams is a man who prides himself on being aggressive. The Saints defensive coordinator is notorious for his unit's all-out assaults on quarterbacks. His desire for New Orleans to get a few "remember-me" shots on Colts quarterback Peyton Manning was well-documented.
The only grade that matters to CBS comes Monday when the initial ratings go public. (Expect the overnights to be huge.) But since we had to sit through an all-day orgy of live Super Bowl coverage from Miami (2:01 -- 10:10 p.m.), let's mark the people who brought you Super Bowl XLIV:
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- It's right, it's fair, it's just, it's good, it's shocking. You were not dreaming (or nightmaring, if you live in Indiana). The Saints have won the Super Bowl.
Grading out the Saints' performances from their 31-17 victory over the Colts in Super Bowl XLIV.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Of course it was a comeback. It had to be, didn't it? How else could the New Orleans Saints and Drew Brees have ended this story and this season, but to rise up and triumph only after first weathering a storm of sorts?
"You get a chance to add the explosiveness of Reggie Bush to your team, and that's something that comes along maybe every five, 10 years. I don't care what the Jets offered us. We were keeping the pick. If that's a gamble, I'll gamble like that every time." -- Sean Payton, the day of the 2006 NFL draft, after the Saints eschewed offers to trade down and instead stayed with their first-round slot and picked USC tailback Reggie Bush.
NEW ORLEANS -- Where were you when the Saints won it all? It's one of those questions -- like, Where were you during the Apollo 11 moon landing? -- that will be asked a lot in the decades to come by generations of sports fans trying to put their lives in the context of something far bigger.
MIAMI -- Fresh off a vindicating Super Bowl XLIV victory that took the franchise to the NFL mountaintop for the first time in its 43-year existence, the New Orleans Saints today plunge into an offseason unlike any in recent league history.
Three people were shot amid celebrations surrounding the New Orleans Saints' Super Bowl win, police said Monday.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- There is little doubt that when Peyton Manning's career ends, he will have made his case as the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL. Shoot, at age 33, he has his case. He is already in the Top 5 in just about every passing category -- completions, yards, touchdowns, and so on. He has won four MVP awards, more than anybody including Jim Brown, John Unitas and Brett Favre. He has led the Colts to seven consecutive 12-win seasons; that's a record too.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Gregg Williams is a man who prides himself on being aggressive. The Saints defensive coordinator is notorious for his unit's all-out assaults on quarterbacks. His desire for New Orleans to get a few "remember-me" shots on Colts quarterback Peyton Manning was well-documented.
The only grade that matters to CBS comes Monday when the initial ratings go public. (Expect the overnights to be huge.) But since we had to sit through an all-day orgy of live Super Bowl coverage from Miami (2:01 -- 10:10 p.m.), let's mark the people who brought you Super Bowl XLIV:
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- It's right, it's fair, it's just, it's good, it's shocking. You were not dreaming (or nightmaring, if you live in Indiana). The Saints have won the Super Bowl.
Grading out the Saints' performances from their 31-17 victory over the Colts in Super Bowl XLIV.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Of course it was a comeback. It had to be, didn't it? How else could the New Orleans Saints and Drew Brees have ended this story and this season, but to rise up and triumph only after first weathering a storm of sorts?
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Musings, observations and the occasional insight from Super Bowl XLIV at Sun Life Stadium, where the long-suffering Saints went marching into Super Bowl history with a thrilling 31-17 come-from-behind upset win over a Colts team that was widely expected to have its way with New Orleans. Who Dat indeed ...
Grading the Colts in their 31-17 loss to the Saints on Sunday in Miami in Super Bowl XLIV ...
MIAMI -- SI's Joe Posnanski will provide ongoing commentary and analysis throughout tonight's Super Bowl showdown between the Colts and Saints. For updated stats and play-by-play, follow SI's Gameflash here.
There was a moment during last week's Super Bowl conference call that revealed the prevailing mood at CBS Sports these days. Asked by a reporter for the network's coverage plans for Sunday's broadcast, CBS News and Sports president Sean McManus responded like a man holding pocket aces in a Texas hold 'em game. "This year we're going to do nothing interesting or surprising," McManus cracked. "It will be the same old crap you see on pregame shows."
The names Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith are synonymous with the NFL's most hallowed records. Now they'll stand together for the league's ultimate honor: Inductees to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Mystic Krewe of Barkus celebrates its 18th annual parade this weekend. The event helps fund animal shelters in New Orleans and on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
My iPhone buzzes every 28 seconds. This is not popularity. Obviously. This is the NFL emailing me another Super Bowl quote sheet. And another. And another. Remi Ayodele! Raheem Brock! Jeff Saturday! Queen Latifah!
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Hay's in the barn. Time to get off the fence. And what other prediction cliché can I dredge up now?
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Dispatches from the Colts' Thursday morning Super Bowl media session at their beachside hotel, hard by the Atlantic Ocean....
Peyton Manning. Drew Brees. We've heard all about the superstar quarterbacks of Super Bowl XLIV, but what about the big guys in front of them? Here's a breakdown of the matchups in the trenches:
CLICK HERE FOR JIM TROTTER'S FIVE REASONS THE COLTS WILL WIN.
CLICK HERE FOR DON BANKS' FIVE REASONS WHY SAINTS WILL WIN
Jazz musician Irvin Mayfield already enjoyed one super Sunday last week. A New Orleans native, Mayfield won the large jazz ensemble award at the Grammys in Los Angeles, California.
He is a child of New Orleans. He was born there, raised there. He was a fan of the Saints. But to the people of the Big Easy, on Sunday, Peyton Manning is their archenemy.
Archie Manning: Super Bowl XLIV is Sunday in Miami, Florida. The New Orleans Saints will face the Indianapolis Colts, and it's the first time the Saints have been in the Super Bowl in the team's four-decade history.
Saints fans have waited more than four decades for their team to get a taste of glory. When kicker Garrett Hartley made a 40-yard field goal to secure the Saints' first trip to the Super Bowl, it proved to be a win not just for the team but for New Orleans' businesses. Hotels, retailers, grocers and other merchants have noticed a rise in sales with every passing Saints victory.
Last year at this time, Arizona head coach Ken Whisenhunt was guiding his NFC champion Cardinals through their first Super Bowl week in franchise history. This season Whisenhunt's team was one of six to face both the Colts and the Saints -- he went 0-2, including a divisional-round playoff loss at New Orleans -- and he agreed to share his observations of the Super Bowl XLIV matchup with SI.com's Don Banks:
There's a party brewing in New Orleans that's filling up hotels and drawing the faithful to the city, but this weekend the magnet isn't Mardi Gras. The New Orleans Saints' Super Bowl debut has fans in a fever to celebrate with their brethren.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Urban Meyer heard all the rumors. That he'd never coach another game. That he would resign immediately after National Signing Day. That Meyer told a recruit he would die happy if he died coaching that player.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Long before Saints head coach Sean Payton sent Gregg Williams two jars of peanut butter, saltine crackers and a glass of sand for breakfast Tuesday morning -- all the better to keep him from creating more bulletin board fodder with his mouth on Super Bowl media day -- the first-year New Orleans defensive coordinator walked in the door of the team complex last offseason talking about more than just delivering "remember-me hits'' on opposing quarterbacks.
Football fans are throwing some Hail Mary passes to try to get to Super Bowl XLIV in Miami, Florida, on February 7.
MIAMI -- If you look very closely -- I mean very closely -- you can see the NFL Films camera quiver ever so slightly as it follows Kansas City Chiefs coach Hank Stram up and down the sidelines at Super Bowl IV. You will remember that Super Bowl film -- that's the one where Stram was miked and said it looked "like a Chinese fire drill out there." A high punt made Stram wonder if the ball had helium in it. And, mostly, the film showed Stram calling the 65-toss power trap, begging for the 65-toss power trap, celebrating his own genius for coming up with the 65-toss power trap. It's fair to say that, because of NFL Films and Hank Stram, the 65-toss power trap is the most famously named play in pro football history.*
From Bart Starr's '67 Packers to Eli Manning's '07 Giants, SI has been covering the Super Bowl since its inception. Here are the game stories for sports' biggest event:
When the final 2010 recruiting class rankings are announced late Wednesday, you'll likely see four familiar names -- Florida, Texas, Alabama and Oklahoma -- sitting at or near the top. It makes sense -- they happen to be the four most recent BCS Championship Game participants.
Ryan Diem and the rest of the Indianapolis Colts barely batted an eye Monday when their plane touched down in Miami between rainstorms. Three years ago this week, in the same city and stadium where they'll face the Saints in Super Bowl XLIV, the Colts won their first championship of the Peyton Manning era in a game as noteworthy for the weather as for the players' performances.
Embrace it. That was Steelers defensive end Aaron Smith advice to his fellows players last year for the annual orgy of inane questions (and questioners) that Super Bowl Media Day has become. "It's a little headache for us but you come out here and have some fun," Smith said. "You get some wacky questions, some off the wall stuff. But you go with the flow. It's part of the job."
Imagine that Major League Baseball instituted a new rule for the postseason. Only the home team may use signals to put on plays, such as from the third-base coach or dugout. What about the road team? Too bad. Just chalk it up to home-field advantage.
We interrupt the NFL coronation festivities for a word from the dark side of the league.
MIAMI LAKES, Fla. -- We've got ourselves a story. When the Indianapolis Colts take the practice field Wednesday, everyone who follows the NFL will be interested in learning if Dwight Freeney will be in any kind of shape to play in Super Bowl 44 Sunday against New Orleans.
Endless Super Bowl hype is part of the fun for football fans. Quarterbacks, naturally, earn more than their fair share of attention in any game. So when two of the game's elite passers meet in the Super Bowl, as they do this year, the hype that already surrounds almost every football game reaches a fever pitch.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The state of Dwight Freeney's ankle injury is sure to dominate our attention this week at Super Bowl XLIV, and the question of whether the Colts' top pass rusher will be ready to roll on his bad wheel is a topic that could have game-changing significance come Sunday night.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Musings, observations and the occasional insight from an NFC-AFC Pro Bowl that was more notable for where it was played, when it was played, and who's not here, than anything that actually happened in the game ...
Now that Kurt Warner has made the call and thrown his last NFL touchdown pass with pinpoint accuracy, what do we know about the Arizona Cardinals once again being Matt Leinart's team, other than that's what it says right here?
Colts middle linebacker Gary Brackett is among the league's more respected players. The seventh-year veteran made the climb from undrafted rookie to team captain using hard work and dedication as his ladder. He has a foundation that assists children who've been affected by cancer, and each year he conducts a football camp for youngsters in his hometown of Glassboro, N.J. The next time he says a bad word about a coach, teammate or opponent will be the first.
The retired football player is conflicted.
Excerpted from The First Star by Lars Anderson Copyright © 2009 by Lars Anderson. Excerpted by permission of Random House Group, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Musings, observations and the occasional insight as we catch our breath and begin the countdown to the big game with maybe the most confusing set of Roman numerals ever...
NFL coaches have left Mobile and most of the scouts are headed home. The only thing left at the Senior Bowl is to tee up the ball and kick off the game. After three full days of practice its time to look back at the highlights and lowlights of the past week, many which will impact April's draft.
They'll face off against players from the Super Bowl-bound Saints in a New Orleans charity game
MOBILE, Ala. -- The final and most important day of full pads practice at the Senior Bowl kicked off on Wednesday. The field swelled as more head coaches and general managers arrived to inspect many of the nations top senior prospects and a number of them did not disappoint. Here's a breakdown of Wednesday's practice.
MOBILE, Ala. -- Practices for the final major all-star game kicked off Monday in Alabama. The Senior Bowl annually draws in the nation's best talent, along with the largest number of NFL personnel people, and this year is no different. It's one last opportunity for players to improve their draft stock on the field and that's what many did in the workouts. Here's the first of our daily breakdowns of the practices:
MOBILE, Ala. -- The pace picked up on Tuesday, the second day of Senior Bowl practice. There were several outstanding performances of note, as a number of lesser-known NFL prospects proved to scouts they belonged on the field against better competition. Here are some of the highlights from players rising up draft boards or heading in the other direction:
Four topics this morning: Overtime, how impressive the Indianapolis skill-position machine is, what really happened on the 12-men-in-the-huddle play, and your Tweet-rage over my choice of material for Monday Morning Quarterback this week.
I will admit up front that that in this particular case the details are foggy in my memory -- but the emotions are not foggy at all. I suspect some of you Packer fans will remember the details better. This was maybe three or four or five years ago. I'm pretty sure it was a playoff game (but it might not have been), and I'm pretty sure this happened near the end of the first half. It was third down for the Packers, and they were somewhere near their opponent's goal line, maybe the 5-yard line or so.
"I am so proud of Reggie and the New Orleans Saints!" she tells PEOPLE
NEW ORLEANS -- In the losers' locker room Sunday night, there was mostly silence for the first five, 10 minutes that reporters were allowed in. Silence among the players, but the noise on the outside -- the delirium, really -- seeped through the walls. The cries symbolized 43 years of frustration ending, and the wailing of repeated "Who Dat!'' chants, which young and old screamed through the weekend and into this morning in a raucous celebration in the French Quarter, finally got to someone in the room.
NEW ORLEANS -- The moment was deeply routine, and yet it was not routine at all. Brett Favre sat on a stool in front of a cubicle in the visitors' dressing room in the belly of the Superdome. His pads and helmet were stuffed into a purple canvas bag with the Minnesota Vikings' logo on the outside. His shoes and socks sat on the floor. Slowly he peeled off his white game pants and pulled a sleeveless undershirt over his head. He squirted white, gooey shampoo into his grey buzz cut and it began running down off his head. All of this he has done hundreds of times since he was a little boy, flinging footballs around fields in Mississippi.
Grading out the performances from the Saints' 31-28 overtime win over the Vikings on Sunday in New Orleans.
NEW ORLEANS -- Get the feeling Mardi Gras might be a bit of a letdown this year?
Grading out the performances from the Colts' 30-17 victory over the Jets in the AFC title game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
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