I’m almost writeless.
Almost.
I’m almost speechless.
Almost.
My voice ran 74 yards with Tracy Porter. The Saints finally completed the march.
The New Orleans Saints have won the Super Bowl. Put that in your straw and drink it.
For 43 years the Saints fans have experienced the agony of defeat.
But the turning point came with the real agony of Hurricane Katrina
That’s when we realized that defeat isn’t an agony. Defeat in a ball game is going to happen from time to time, but it’s a temporary pain, and it’s disappointing but it ain’t agony.
Agony is when you’re in the superdome and it’s not for a football game.
Agony is the moment you realize your house has floated away, or your friend is homeless.
That’s agony.
We’ll take more football defeats, just let us keep our team.
Losing is painful, but it’s not as bad as not having a team at all.
Now the thrill of victory – that’s for real. When the Saints won the 44th Super Bowl last night 31-17 it made 43 years of defeats slide away into the swampy Bayou.
My Random thoughts:
Can you remember each Brees incompletion?
It was the Saints receivers who shone. We knew they were better than these inexperienced Colts receivers. Yes, Dallas Clark was great, but the rest of the receivers looked the way the Saints were supposed to look – star struck and nervous. Clank.
Everyone is talking about the Colts’ drops of passes, but if Marques Colston hadn’t killed a drive whiffing on an early pass that Brees almost planted in his facemask, the Saints may have gotten rolling a lot sooner.
Everyone is talking about Sean Payton’s decision to on-side kick to start the second half. They should be talking about it, because what we were talking about during the halftime (which lasted longer than an episode of Grey’s Anatomy) was how critical the first drive was going to be – and that the Saints had to stop the Colts, they couldn’t afford to fall behind 17 – 6. Sean Payton was thinking the same thing.
When you have The Who playing at halftime, don’t you think the Who Dats are going to win?
I’ve played and coached a lot of sports, sometimes not very well. A competitor doesn’t always trust his coach. What is obvious about the Saints (and their fans) is that they have complete trust in Sean Payton. As Dizzy Dean used to say, “It ain’t braggin’ when you done done it.” Now Payton has done done it to the tune of a championship. With one under his belt, watch out.
When did I know that the Saints finally had a coach?
A few years back when he cut his own fifth round draft choice Antonio Pittman to keep Pierre Thomas. It had been obvious during the pre-season that Thomas was clearly better, and Sean Payton didn’t hesitate to cut a draft choice that had been outplayed.
It was a lot of fun to beat the greatest quarterback to ever play the game. Again.
We will now get to see Tracy Porters’ interception return more than Billy Cannon’s Halloween run. Probably already have.
What I love about the Saints is the role that is played by the over-achievers like undrafted free agents Pierre Thomas, Lance Moore, and Chris Reis, who recovered the on-side kick. Something to be said for some talent, grit, and steady development.
Stick with me. Back on September 10th I told you the Saints would win the Super Bowl and Drew Brees would be the MVP of it. These playoffs reminded me of the 1971 World Series when the world finally got to see how good Roberto Clemente was. Now the world knows the secret, that Brees may be the most accurate passer ever. And the difference between Manning and Brees? Touch. Did you notice how many drops the Colts had on difficult and hard passes? Manning, like Brett Favre, throws bullets. Brees feathers the ball into tight spots. The secret’s out.
It was during the early season 13 – 0 run that I knew it was going to happen. Not just because they started 13 – 0, but because they won every conceivable way. Coming from behind, blowing teams out, grinding it out, catching lucky breaks. It’s an intangible confidence- like thing. They had it – if you went to a game, you could just see it.
Like the man said about pornography, “I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it.”
Here’s a forgotten MVP – How about right tackle Jon Stinchcomb? While all the focus was on Dwight Freeney and Jerome Bushrod, did you ever hear the name of Robert Mathis, their other Pro-Bowl defensive end called all night? I didn’t. The Saints offensive line made the Colts defensive line disappear.
We were all excited when Payton fired his good friend Gary Gibbes as defensive coordinator and replaced him with Gregg Williams. The reason I was so sure this was the Saints year was they did exactly what I told them to. When they called me to ask me if I was going to renew my season tickets, I told the caller, “Would you please tell GM Loomis to draft all defense?” They did. First round pick Malcolm Jenkins, while he struggled at times, was a big contributor last night. We haven’t even seen several of the draft picks yet. They spent the year on injured reserve – just think if they’re as good as our recent drafts. Free agents Jabari Greer and Darren Sharper gave the defense jolts of credibility and experience. Everyone kept talking about the Saints being ranked 25th in defense this year. They failed to realize that they were rated about 8th until the 2 starting cornerbacks Greer and Porter went down with injuries.
At the time I thought it was a gamble to draft a kicker and a punter in consecutive drafts. Again, the Saints brain trust proved that they are superior evaluators of talent. Both Morstead and Hartley played huge rolls last night.
I truly believe this is just the beginning of a Patriots-like run.
Who Dat can’t wait to do it again?
So, Excuse me while I go clean the champagne out of the carpet. I always wanted to pour champagne over people’s heads, but I didn’t know it was so sticky.
See you at the victory parade. New Dats welcome.
Wait til next year.
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