Super Bowl Capsules: Rejection a motivator for some players
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The overlooked, the underrated and the outright rejected have somehow landed in this Super Bowl — some with starring roles, too.
The New Orleans Saints wouldn’t be competitive, let alone NFC champions and in their first Super Bowl, without a number of players who fit those categories. The list starts with quarterback Drew Brees and includes Darren Sharper, Jonathan Vilma, Jeremy Shockey, Pierre Thomas and Marques Colston.
Same for the Colts. Indianapolis defensive starters Gary Brackett and Melvin Bullitt weren’t drafted. Neither was Jeff Saturday, the three-time All-Pro who snaps the ball to Peyton Manning. Two other starters, guard Ryan Lilja and defensive tackle Dan Muir, were picked up on waivers. DE Raheem Brock was selected in the seventh round by the Eagles in 2002, cut and signed by Indy. Pierre Garcon, the rapidly developing wide receiver, was a sixth-round draft pick.
"You’ve got to take advantage of your opportunities. Nothing’s given to you. You’ve got to take it and don’t let it go," said Antoine Bethea, the Colts’ starting free safety and a sixth-round pick in 2006. "Myself, Melvin Bullitt, Jacob Lacey, Jerraud Powers — I think we’ve all done that. And that’s just the secondary, not even mentioning the guys on the front end. So whatever it is, whatever you need to do, you can’t relinquish the opportunity that you’re given."
Brees was all but dumped by San Diego, then shunned by the Dolphins in 2006. Sharper, set adrift by Minnesota last year, signed a one-year deal at the veteran’s minimum with New Orleans. Vilma and Shockey were unwanted in New York despite some Pro Bowl seasons. Thomas wasn’t drafted at all, while Colston was — 252nd overall, in the final moments of the last round in ‘06.
"Here we are trying to come back and find ourselves," said Brees, who lost his starting job with the Chargers to Philip Rivers in great part because he injured his right shoulder in the 2005 season finale — his last game before entering free agency. Miami showed interest in him, then backed off on medical advice. The Saints had no such reservations.
"Sean Payton gets hired. I get brought in as a free agent with Scott Fujita," Brees said. "Reggie Bush and Marques Colston get drafted. We bring in guys like Mark Simoneau and Scott Shanle. The list goes on of the guys we brought in that year as free agents.
"In a way, all of us were castaways, guys who were obviously free agents because there were plenty of teams out there that didn’t want us. Yet, the New Orleans Saints wanted us and they wanted to give us an opportunity. We all used that as a rallying point to come together and accomplish something special and we did."
It’s not all superstars and super stats in this Super Bowl.
The Saints’ top two rushers, Thomas and Mike Bell, went undrafted. The Colts’ top receiver in these playoffs, Garcon, was taken with the 205th overall pick.
"You’ve got to give credit to (Payton) for keeping an undrafted guy over a fourth-round pick," linebacker Shanle said, referring to how the Saints stayed with Thomas over Antonio Pittman. "Even though he was better, a lot of teams don’t do that."
These teams do. They also will trade for players who have worn out their welcome or don’t fit elsewhere. Shockey and Vilma are examples.
Shockey caught 371 passes and lots of flak with the Giants for his individualism, willingness to speak out, and penchant for committing penalties. When the Giants discovered in 2007 they could win with Kevin Boss after Shockey broke his leg — sidelining him for the playoff run and Super Bowl upset of New England — they shopped the moody (some say disruptive) tight end.
Payton was buying, offering a second- and fifth-round selection.
"He’s a guy that last night was floating around the meeting rooms and half the team is out for dinner," Payton said, referring to Shockey. "He’s looking at tape and getting ice. So I think a little bit of that is mythical. It’s fun to write about."
Vilma was the 2004 defensive rookie of the year. When the Jets switched coaches in 2006 from Herm Edwards to Eric Mangini, they also installed a 3-4 defense, which limited Vilma, whose strength is his pursuit from sideline to sideline.
It was clear from early in his tenure in New York that Mangini wanted a different kind of middle linebacker, and Vilma became available in 2008 after missing nine games with a knee injury.
Again, Payton was buying, offering a fourth-rounder and a conditional pick. Mangini, perhaps believing Vilma was damaged goods, was so eager to send the player elsewhere that he accepted the trade.
"It’s funny, we had similar situations," Vilma said, referring to Shockey, who was his teammate at the University of Miami. "He got hurt, I got hurt. He got traded, I got traded, and we’ve just been making the most of it since."
Colts, Saints show passing now wins in NFL
MIAMI — In the 1973 Super Bowl, Bob Griese threw a grand total of 11 passes to help the Miami Dolphins complete the NFL’s only perfect season.
The sport was more wide open a generation later, when winning quarterback Troy Aikman tossed 23 passes in the 1996 championship game for the Dallas Cowboys. The Baltimore Ravens allowed Trent Dilfer to throw a whopping 25 times when they won the league title in 2001.
Peyton Manning and Drew Brees may surpass those numbers before halftime in Sunday’s Super Bowl between the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints, because passing wins like never before.
Every 12-year-old fan can recite the NFL’s common coaching mantra: Run the ball, control the clock and play good defense. But that longtime model for winning championships may be headed the way of leather helmets.
"The game has changed," former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher says. "It’s catered to throwing."
Manning and Brees do it better than anyone else, which is a big reason their teams are in the title game.
Brees set an NFL record with his completion percentage of 70.6, and Manning ranked second at 68.8.
Brees led the league with 34 touchdown passes, and Manning tied Brett Favre for second at 33. Brees ranked first in passing efficiency, and Manning was on pace for an NFL-high 4,800 yards before resting for the playoffs late in the regular season.
Gaudy passing statistics haven’t historically translated into winning. Instead, 300-yard games were for losers.
But this year, eight of the league’s top 10 teams in passing yardage made the playoffs. Teams reaching the postseason threw more than the league average.
The Colts will play for the title despite ranking a distant 32nd and last in rushing. The Arizona Cardinals also ranked last a year ago when they reached the Super Bowl. No team had previously achieved that dubious feat, according to STATS LLC.
So what happened to the notion of keeping the ball on the ground to win?
"That day has gone," says NFL draft consultant Gil Brandt, who has worked in the league since the 1960s. "If you get 10 carries as a running back now, that’s good. And whatever amount teams passed this year, there will be more passing next year."
There are exceptions to every trend, and the surprising New York Jets reached the AFC championship game this season with a rookie quarterback, grinding ground game and stout defense.
"I was pulling for the Jets, because that was old-time football — run the ball and play defense," Cowher says.
"It’s not out the window, because the Jets still do it," Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive back Rod Woodson says. "Old-school football — it’s kind of crazy even to call it that. But today’s game is made to throw the ball."
Woodson and others say one factor is rule changes that protect quarterbacks and receivers.
"The quarterbacks can’t get hit. The receivers can’t get hit. The guy running over the middle can’t get hit," Cowher says.
In addition, there’s more emphasis on throwing and catching in high school and college, which improves the skill level in the NFL, Brandt says.
"People have become so sophisticated in the passing game," he says. "A long time ago, a completion percentage of 52 or 53 was pretty good. Now you’ve got one guy at 70.6 and one at 68.8. And there has been a drastic reduction in interceptions. They’re throwing the ball more, and yet there are less interceptions."
Phil Simms finds the numbers misleading and the trend exaggerated. He says short, safe throws pad passing stats, and teams use such plays to control the ball.
"There are some teams in the NFL that will throw 10 to 15 passes a week of 5 yards or less," says Simms, MVP of the 1987 Super Bowl. "It’s really just another way of running the ball, instead of dropping back and throwing it like we did in the old days. I could go out there now and throw left-handed and hit 50 percent, because there are so many easy throws."
Others argue this is an era of uncommon talent at quarterback. Saints coach Sean Payton says passing wins today because of those doing the throwing.
"You’re seeing quarterback play that’s probably as good as this league has ever had," Payton says. "There are a dozen teams that are getting outstanding play at quarterback, and you would go back a long time before you could say that."
Along with Manning, Brees and Favre, there’s Tom Brady, Philip Rivers, Matt Schaub, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning, Donovan McNabb, Tony Romo and newly retired Kurt Warner. That’s a dozen.
Peyton Manning’s at the head of the class. He won the NFL MVP award for the fourth time this season, and 78 percent of the Colts’ yards came through the air.
"Indianapolis is an exception," Cowher says. "I don’t think you’ll ever find another team that can do what they’re doing. I don’t think you can use them as a model."
The Saints are more balanced, with 67 percent of their yards via the pass, and they ranked sixth in rushing.
Perhaps that gives them an edge in the Super Bowl. Deion Sanders, for one, believes the path to a championship remains on the ground.
"Both of these teams are going to have to resort to the old model to win this game," Sanders says. "They’re going to run the ball. It’s got to be a little more balanced. If you see a team with 45 passes and 15 runs, that means that team is losing."
How times change: Prime Time is now old school.
-- Steven Wine
New Orleans Saints
Hargrove’s redemption helps Saints to Super Bowl
MIAMI — For Anthony Hargrove, heading out on the town during Super Bowl week means an afternoon trip to his old drug and alcohol recovery clinic.
The Saints’ defensive lineman watched last season’s Super Bowl at the Transitions Recovery Program in North Miami Beach. A year later, he has returned for all the right reasons.
"I remember always being in treatments and people coming back with these success stories and you’re sitting there like, ‘Man, when am I going to have my success story?"’ Hargrove recalled.
"I’m doing something different with my life and I’m finally living a good life," he said. "It’s probably one of the best feelings I’ve ever had."
Hargrove joined the Saints last spring after serving a year’s suspension for multiple violations of the NFL’s substance abuse policy. In the City that Care Forgot, home to Bourbon Street, Mardi Gras and drive-thru daiquiris stands, Hargrove has stayed clean and had a productive season. He finished third on the team in sacks with five and made a slew of other big plays, including a strip and fumble return for a touchdown.
"I’d hate to know where we’d be without him football-wise," Saints defensive line coach Bill Johnson said. "He had a lot of ball disruptions, hitting people hard, jarring the ball loose. He’s a heavy ol’ dude, you know? And he’s just played good."
Now Hargrove is playing for an NFL championship in another city renowned for nightlife, during a week full of parties boasting star-studded guest lists. He is popular with teammates who would probably look out for him if he tagged along — just to socialize; no drinking — but he doesn’t even want to attempt it.
"I don’t go. It’s as simple as that," Hargrove said. "It’s about understanding boundaries and limits and plans. Before I came down here I had to have a plan of action — what I was going to do each day, and I had to have people around me that was going to keep me to that plan."
When he’s not at practice or in team meetings, Hargrove intends to lay low with close friends and family, or in his hotel room studying film of the Indianapolis Colts and "trying to get every little edge on Peyton (Manning)."
On Tuesday, after media day at Sun Life Stadium, he spent a couple hours at the clinic.
Lee Barchan, the executive director at Transitions, said Hargrove asked if he could visit and run a meeting along with some counselors.
Hargrove told his story and Barchan said the recovering substance abusers at Transitions "were pretty excited about who he was. They were all talking about it."
"Anthony is proud he turned his life around. We love him to death and he has a place forever in our hearts," Barchan said. "I wouldn’t want to be Peyton Manning (in Sunday’s game), but he’s a gentle giant."
Hargrove, who seems much quicker than his 6-foot-3, 272-pound frame would allow, was a third-round draft choice by the St. Louis Rams in 2004. He seemed to have a promising career ahead when he started 15 games in his second season and ranked second on the club with 6 1/2 sacks.
Then it all started to slip away.
Unexcused absences and his declining performance, related to what Hargrove now readily admits was drug and alcohol abuse, got him traded to Buffalo in 2007. He was arrested and briefly suspended after a fight outside a night club during the 2007 preseason, then suspended again in 2008 for a full season.
Shortly after last year’s Super Bowl, Hargrove left the clinic where he spent 10 months and was reinstated by the NFL.
Johnson, a former Atlanta Falcons assistant who remembered Hargrove at Georgia Tech, pushed for the Saints to give him another shot.
When Hargrove arrived in New Orleans, Johnson accompanied him to meetings for recovering addicts. As far as Johnson was concerned, Hargrove was already a success story, considering his trying childhood in a tough neighborhood in Brooklyn, N.Y.
By the time Hargrove was 9, his father had died in a fire and his mother had died of AIDS. He was homeless at times and in foster care at others before being adopted by an aunt and spending his teenage years in Florida. He excelled in football at Port Charlotte High School and went on to Georgia Tech, where he performed well enough to get the attention of pro scouts before flunking out.
When Johnson and Hargrove first attended a meeting together, other participants "just thought he was a big old guy from out of prison," Johnson recalled.
"We’re to the point now where he can do good things for other people," he said. "There’s hope. It’s a good story, man."
-- Brett Martel
New Orleans filling up for Super Bowl
NEW ORLEANS — Mardi Gras falls on a Sunday this year.
The city of the Saints is filling up with ex-New Orleanians and others ahead of the Super Bowl, many looking to cast off a legacy of football futility and natural disaster — others just looking to party down in one of the world’s greatest party towns.
"We’re gearing up for Sunday just like Mardi Gras day," said Earl Bernhardt, a bar owner in the French Quarter. "We’re staffing just like we do for Mardi Gras, and if the Saints win, we won’t close at all. We’ll stay open as long as people are standing."
After 43 years in existence, the Saints will make their Super Bowl debut in Miami on Sunday, facing the favored Indianapolis Colts.
Fans from most cities would be headed to South Florida about now. But for ex-pat New Orleanians, the game is triggering a pilgrimage home. And for everybody back in town, the party’s already started.
A few are taking the week off in the countdown to game day. Others are punching the clock, but not getting much done. Saints jerseys, "Who Dat?" T-shirts and black and gold beads are the uniform everywhere you go.
The French Quarter’s narrow streets also are awash in the team colors. As revelers cruise down its streets, strangers give each other high-fives
"It’s been all Saints all the time," said Steve Sabrier, an oil field worker who marched from the Superdome to the French Quarter after the NFC championship. "I pity anybody who needs something done in New Orleans these days. We can’t concentrate on anything but the game."
Sister Mary Rose, a Dominican nun who attends every Saints game and teaches at a Catholic school in the Quarter, said the feeling of sheer excitement in the city is almost tangible. "I think ‘exuberant joy’ is the word," the nun said. "And it has brought such a unity to us, such a bond between all the people here it’s just amazing."
Meanwhile, in Atlanta, New Orleans transplant Belinda Hernandez vowed to be in Miami if the Saints made the big game.
"But seeing the fever pitch in New Orleans and knowing how we party, I changed my mind," Hernandez said.
"Who wants to be on Miami Beach when they can be in the French Quarter with the Who Dats for the game?"
So Hernandez turned down some friends in South Florida, who offered to get her tickets.
Besides being Super Bowl weekend, this is the start of carnival season that ends Feb. 16 on the real Mardi Gras. There are four parades scheduled in New Orleans on Saturday and two on Sunday — but they’re rolling early to avoid conflicting with the game.
All eyes on the game, starting Sunday at 5:25 p.m. local time.
Mary Beth Romig of the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau says there’s no question the Saints have created something special — this time for the city’s tourist trade.
"This is turning into a very big weekend for the hotels in downtown New Orleans and the French Quarter," said Romig. "We did a survey and hotels are running about 90 percent full late in the week, and that jumps to 95 percent on Sunday. People are definitely coming to New Orleans for Super Bowl."
Sorry, Colts fans, but it’s a different story up north.
Kimberly Harms, a spokeswoman for the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association, said there was no noticeable jump in hotel occupancy there for the weekend. She noted, however that one hotel had set aside 44 rooms at the special rate of $144 in honor of the 44th Super Bowl. If Indianapolis wins, she said, the rooms will be free for those staying in them.
At New Orleans’ Roosevelt Hotel, an upscale hotel where suites start at $259 a night and go up, marketing director Mark Wilson said they are seeing a "huge surge" of people who want to celebrate the Super Bowl in New Orleans.
"Let’s face it, not everybody can get a ticket to the game," Wilson said. "And a lot of people seem to think being in New Orleans is a good alternative."
The Roosevelt is about 80 percent booked, which is 10 percent to 15 percent more than normal for a weekend with no convention in town, Wilson said. The big seller is the hotel suites, with much of the business coming from Texas, Mississippi and Alabama.
"People are booking the entertainment suites, which are great for parties of 25, 35 people," he said.
"Some are probably just people looking for a party. But a lot are former residents, I think. People in New Orleans have looked for this day a long time and now they want to be here for it."
Police will increase their coverage in the French Quarter this weekend, adding approximately 600 officers, police spokesman Bob Young said. That’s about the number the city would deploy if New Orleans were hosting the game.
Rick Watson, and his wife, Katherine, are among the natives coming back.
Now residents of North Carolina, 35-year-old Watson said it took them a long time to believe the Saints had really made the big game, but not much time to decide where to watch it.
"When something big happens, you go home, and this is big," Watson said. "Besides, where would you rather be if the Saints win, the French Quarter or Miami? Even if they lose you want to be in New Orleans."
-- Mary Foster
Shockey, Sharper, Vilma practice
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The New Orleans Saints looked healthy and active in their practice Wednesday, with starters Jeremy Shockey, Darren Sharper and Jonathan Vilma all participating,
Each of them has been bothered by knee problems, but played in the NFC championship game. Tight end Shockey, safety Sharper, and linebacker Vilma worked in all the key drills.
Only backup running back Lynell Hamilton, who watched the 2½-hour workout with a walking boot protecting his left ankle, was idle.
"I think we’re ahead of schedule with just about everything we’re trying to get done," coach Sean Payton said. "Even the buses and everything are running on time or ahead of schedule."
Payton wore a Hurricanes visor and coaching shirt instead of his standard Saints gear for the practice at the University of Miami.
The Saints worked mostly on base first-down and second-down situations. Payton said two-thirds of the offense was installed last week back home.
Cornerback Randall Gay, bothered by a foot injury, intercepted two passes against the scout team.
Payton conducted a 30-minute walkthrough with every unit, from special teams to specialized offensive formations. They worked several minutes on turnover drills, something usually seen in training camp.
"Well, we do that a lot during the season, too," Payton said. "But I’d like us to have a little of that training-camp mentality here."
Saints ‘O’ line selected as ‘MVP Protectors’
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — You cannot make this stuff up: When Archie Manning played quarterback for the Saints during the 1980s, he was sacked more than 300 times. On Wednesday, the current offensive line sent him to collect the inaugural "Madden Most Valuable Protectors Award" on its behalf.
"I never really wanted to know that number," Manning said about the sacks, laughing. "It’s probably not a record, but I had a pretty good average going. It was around 40 or 50, and a lot of the times, it was my fault."
The trophy was handed out during Super Bowl week and inspired by Pro Football Hall of Fame coach and longtime broadcaster John Madden, himself a former NFL lineman. He appeared via video teleconference and said that while individual linemen receive recognition on occasion, it was time that the entire line gets the recognition it deserves. The award was sponsored by Prilosec, a heartburn drug.
The offensive line helped the Saints lead the league in scoring and yards per game, averaging 31.9 points and 403.8 yards. The players are left tackle Jermon Bushrod, left guard Carl Nicks, center Jonathan Goodwin, right guard Jahri Evans and right tackle Jon Stinchcomb. All were drafted by the Saints, except Goodwin.
Evans was selected to the All-Pro team this season, while he, Goodwin and Stinchcomb made the Pro Bowl. Their accomplishments were even more impressive considering veteran Jammal Brown, a former Pro Bowl pick, missed the entire season due to injury.
-- Jim Litke
Indianapolis Colts
Colts’ Wayne ready to be ‘bad guy’ in New Orleans
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — In Wayne’s world, the choice couldn’t be clearer.
His heart may reside in New Orleans, but his job is squarely in Indy.
And as far as Reggie Wayne is concerned, nothing is going to come between him and a second Super Bowl ring. Not even his hometown team.
"It’s amazing to see the Saints in the Super Bowl," the Colts receiver said Wednesday. "I remember growing up and thinking it would happen, and it never worked out that way. To see what it has come to is just great. Now, unfortunately, I’ve got to be the bad guy, but like I say I’ve got bills to pay."
He happily took on the role even before the season started.
Wayne arrived at training camp in a yellow dump truck, wearing an orange construction vest and a white hard hat with blue lettering that said: "Super Bowl Under Construction."
The four-time Pro Bowler did his part, catching 100 passes for 1,264 yards and 10 touchdowns. He’s caught 11 more passes for 118 yards and one TD in the playoffs.
Though he never doubted the Colts would make it back to the NFL title game, facing the Saints was the ultimate surprise.
He grew up watching them, still follows them and maintains an affinity for the Big Easy.
"I’m glad the city’s excited right now, they’re supposed to be," he said. "The Saints are a good team."
As a youngster, he often pleaded to wear black-and-gold clothes to match the Saints colors, listened to radio broadcasts of games, religiously followed his favorite player, Eric Martin, and even learned the lingo of "Who Dat Nation."
"I know it, I just don’t speak it," Wayne cracked.
He still remembers frantically trying to reach family members after Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005 and the fateful day in September 2006, when he learned his older brother, Rashad, had been killed in a traffic accident near New Orleans.
But to those who suggest a Super Bowl victory would mean more to New Orleans, where they’ve never had a title to celebrate, Wayne responds: "I also know what it means to the city of Indianapolis."
Indeed, he would rather leave Miami the same way he did three years ago when the Colts last played in the Super Bowl — with the trophy.
Otherwise, he’ll face a harsh summer of reminders from his friends. They’re already lining up to take shots.
"Let me tell you something, I turned my phone on this morning, the first thing that popped up was 40 text messages. I immediately cut it back off," he said. "I can imagine what all those text messages are saying, but that’s the beauty of it. That’s the fun of it. I guarantee you, if we take care of business the way we should, I’ll be happy to look at all those text messages and answer them back."
-- Michael Marot
Colts’ Freeney says ankle pain is subsiding
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — For Dwight Freeney, South Florida is the perfect locale for a Super Bowl — and a sore ankle.
The Colts All-Pro defensive end said he’s been walking around barefoot and along the sandy beach outside the team’s hotel to strengthen his sprained right ankle. It may be enough to get him into Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints.
"Sometimes walking is good because it keeps things fluid," Freeney said Wednesday. "You hear people say he should be in a boot or something. But sometimes it can get stiff, and you’ve got to get that motion back in the ankle. It gets the blood flowing, so I’ve been walking around barefoot and in the sand."
Try doing that in Indianapolis this time of year.
Freeney is questionable for the game after tearing a ligament in the ankle with about 2 minutes left in Indy’s 30-17 AFC championship victory over the Jets.
Since then, Freeney, considered one of the league’s top pass rushers, has tried almost everything — ice, oxygen chambers, even chiropractors — to get healthy enough to play.
"It’s better than yesterday, and yesterday was better than the day before," Freeney said. "It’s a slow progression right now, but that’s where it is. Every morning I wake up, and it feels a little better."
Freeney isn’t the only Colts starter with an injury.
Cornerback Jerraud Powers is questionable with a left foot injury. Powers said he hurt the foot in the first quarter of the divisional-round game against Baltimore. By the third quarter, he had a painful bruise on the right side of the foot, which made it difficult to play. Powers did not play in the AFC title game.
Coach Jim Caldwell said the rookie is improving, and Powers insisted he will play.
"It’s coming along fine," Powers said. "I’m starting to cut and move on it, and there’s no doubt in my mind that I’ll be out there Sunday. I’m not sure about practice. I’m pretty sure the doctors will be pretty conservative about that."
If Powers does play, it would give the Colts secondary a big boost against the league’s No. 1-ranked offense. Powers started most of the season opposite Kelvin Hayden. Another rookie, Jacob Lacey, has replaced both players when they were injured. With Powers in the lineup, Lacey would play primarily in nickel packages.
The bigger question is whether the Colts will have their best defender, Freeney, on Sunday.
He finished the season with 13½ sacks and combined with Pro Bowler Robert Mathis to form one of the league’s top pass-rushing combinations. All Freeney can do now is wait and see how things turn out.
"I hope to be myself," Freeney said. "Or as close to myself as I can be."
-- Michael Marot
Freeney, Powers miss Colts practice
DAVIE, Fla. — The Indianapolis Colts’ first practice in South Florida followed the script.
Injured defensive end Dwight Freeney wasn’t on the field. Injured cornerback Jerraud Powers was on the sideline, and four-time league MVP Peyton Manning looked like his old self Wednesday.
Manning completed all nine passes and threw for a touchdown against the scout team’s nickel defense, his first practice at the Miami Dolphins’ facility since the Colts reached the Super Bowl three years ago.
None of it, including the Colts’ decision to go without pads, was a surprise.
"We’ve played 22 games this year," coach Jim Caldwell said. "I want them to be nice and hungry come Sunday. If they needs pads this time of year ..."
Freeney, the All-Pro defensive end, has a torn ligament in his right ankle and is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against New Orleans. Powers, a rookie, has a left foot injury.
Both were expected to sit out Wednesday.
Indy listed 19 players on its injury report. Freeney and Powers were the only players who sat out. Caldwell wouldn’t predict whether Freeney would play Sunday, though he was more optimistic about Powers.
"Not certain yet," Caldwell said. "But I can tell you this, he’s moving in the right direction."
The Colts installed most of the game plan while at home last week.
Indy’s schools want 2-hour delay after Super Bowl
INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis Public Schools students may be able to sleep in Monday thanks to a two-hour delay scheduled to give bus drivers more time to get to work the morning after the Super Bowl.
The problem is that state education officials don’t like the plan. State Superintendent Tony Bennett says Sunday night’s game between the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints doesn’t qualify as an emergency.
An IPS spokeswoman said the district is reviewing its options.
After the Colts beat the Chicago Bears in the 2007 Super Bowl, so many bus drivers called in sick the next morning that IPS officials canceled classes systemwide. Bus drivers report to work at 5:30 a.m., and the Super Bowl often runs until nearly 11 p.m.
Commentary: A big, easy decision for Archie: Root for Peyton
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The town he calls home and the team he took a beating for over the course of a decade finally made it to the Super Bowl. The quarterback on the other side is his middle son. Archie Manning will not mince words. He can find room in his heart for only one of them.
"It’s easy," Manning replied Wednesday, when asked to choose between the New Orleans Saints and son Peyton’s Indianapolis Colts. "Very easy, anyway, when you’ve got a boy in the game."
But not quite as easy as he makes it sound.
Manning was the glamour boy quarterback at Ole Miss who married the homecoming queen, then moved to New Orleans and learned firsthand how the other half lives. He got clobbered nearly every day of his professional life, first to last, 10 full seasons in all without a winning one.
He was there when fans began showing up at the Superdome with paper bags over their heads, too loyal to abandon their beloved "Aints," yet wanting to remain anonymous lest the neighbors who stayed home questioned their sanity.
"The worst year was 1980 and that was the year we thought we’d do pretty good," Manning said, chuckling softly. "Things just fell apart.
"We had lost the first 11 or 12 games and (oldest son) Cooper and Peyton were going to the games. They were 4 and 6 at the time, old enough to go, and they were enjoying it. Olivia is pregnant with Eli and I’m having one of those games.
"So ‘round about the fourth quarter," Archie paused, "Cooper turned to Olivia and asked could he and Peyton boo also."
All the losing, bumps and bruises don’t hurt quite as much now. Manning put down roots in New Orleans’ historic Uptown neighborhood and raised his three boys there.
Today, they’re the Super Bowl’s first family. Peyton was MVP when the Colts won in 2007, and Eli did the same with the Giants the next year. That means for the third time in four years, one or the other has brought Archie to a place he didn’t dare dream about during his own playing days. And he will admit that maybe "there’s some justice in that," given how bad the Saints were for nearly all 43 years of the franchise’s existence.
Archie swears the boys learned more from their coaches and each other than they inherited from him.
"I wasn’t in his category," he said about Peyton. "I could outrun him — Eli, too — but that’s about all I could do."
Yet their father’s professionalism, even in the face of all that adversity, rubbed off. So did the affection and respect Archie showed everyone in the Saints organization from top to bottom.
Manning often brought the two older boys to Saturday afternoon practices. They were allowed the run of the locker room after the games on Sundays, and Saints equipment managers Dan "Chief" Simmons and Silky Powell were deputized to keep an eye on them. Come this Sunday, Peyton will look across the sideline and be reminded again of his attachment to a town and its team.
"Cooper and I used to run those guys wild," Peyton recalled, laughing. "We used to be a pain in those guys’ rears, I can guarantee you. They were always great to us, kind of looking out for us, taking care of the quarterback’s kids. It’s special to be in this Super Bowl, but to have those guys in the game as well."
Peyton understands that just like his father, most of New Orleans will not have trouble dividing its loyalty. Yet that won’t be as easy as he makes it sound, either.
"My dad would always come out and get us on the field and take a little time to be with us," Peyton said. "He’d always sign autographs for all the fans after the games, most of these times after tough losses. But I couldn’t tell at the time. I didn’t really know if they won or lost. I was 3, 4, 5 years old. He was always the same. So that always had a positive influence on me."
Archie is signing still, just as active in the community as he was during his playing days. He later worked for the Saints as a broadcaster, and his involvement with a number of charities grew even stronger in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
"I’m just proud, very proud of what they’ve accomplished, and especially what this group of players have done in the community," Manning said. "They don’t just put their names on things.
"We need that," he continued. "We still got a ways to go, but the Saints just jump-started everyone’s attitude. And we really needed that during the recovery."
Still, the old quarterback reminds himself that blood is always thicker than water, even when the current that sweeps him along has such a strong emotional pull. He remembers how his own parents and Olivia’s never got to see either of their grandsons win football’s biggest game, let alone a Super Bowl appearance by the team they cheered their entire adult lives.
"I had to come up with 30 tickets, but if there was anyone I would have wanted along, it would have been them," he said. "Of course, if I’d ever told them the Saints would get to the Super Bowl one day, but they’d be playing against one of theirs, none of them would have believed it."
Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke@ap.org.
Notebook: JoePa helped launch Colts’ Caldwell to Super Bowl
MIAMI — Jim Caldwell has a staff of 16 assistant coaches, plus a deep supply of friends and confidants who helped him steer the Indianapolis Colts into the Super Bowl.
Count JoePa among those who got Caldwell off to a great start.
Longtime Penn State coach Joe Paterno — major college football’s all-time win leader — hired Caldwell as a wide receivers coach in 1986, and the words he spoke then still resonate deeply with the Colts’ rookie boss now.
One quote in particular stuck with Caldwell.
"Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves," Caldwell recalled Wednesday.
In many ways, Penn State was Caldwell’s big coaching break. During his time with the Nittany Lions, he worked with Kerry Collins when he was considered college football’s top quarterback, and worked his way up the ranks to passing game coordinator, plus was part of a national championship.
By the time Caldwell left Penn State, he was ready for a head coaching gig, which Wake Forest gave him in 1993. Caldwell worked for some other top-notch college coaches as well — Howard Schnellenberger and Bill McCartney among them — but Paterno’s words echo loudest to this day.
"I worked for him for seven years and I think he’s one of the finest teachers in the game," Caldwell said.
JUST FOR KICKS
Adam Vinatieri is still kicking around for the Indianapolis Colts.
Known for making last-second field goals in big games, Vinatieri doesn’t figure to get into the Super Bowl on Sunday against New Orleans. He had surgery on his right knee in mid-October and has played just once since then.
The Colts signed Matt Stover to fill in for Vinatieri, and the 42-year-old replacement has delivered. Stover made nine of 11 field goals in the regular season, and is perfect on five tries in the playoffs.
This is Vinatieri’s sixth trip to the NFL championship game. He won three Super Bowl rings with New England and another with the Colts three years ago.
"I’ve been kicking for the last few weeks," he said Wednesday. "I may not be 100 percent, but I’m good enough to go through a game."
Coach Jim Caldwell hasn’t given any indication he’d switch away from Stover. Teams have until gameday to set their active roster for the Super Bowl.
"Until then, there’s always a chance," Vinatieri said.
Vinatieri has one year left on his Colts’ contract, and is planning on being their No. 1 kicker next season.
"The doctors say there’s no reason I shouldn’t have 100 percent recovery," he said. "I’m expecting to be on the team next year."
FAMILY AFFAIR
Reggie Bush’s celebrity girlfriend and her family are doing their superstitious best to help the Saints running back in the Super Bowl.
Kim Kardashian’s stepfather, Olympic gold medalist Bruce Jenner, said she will be joined in Miami by her mother, Kris, and brother, Rob — the same group that attended the NFC playoff game when Bush scored on an 83-yard punt return and a spectacular 46-yard run in a 45-14 win over the Arizona Cardinals.
"That combination seems to be working," Jenner said Wednesday in New York while promoting a campaign to raise awareness for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
ECKEL REMEMBERS
Once again, the Super Bowl will be seen and heard live by U.S. soldiers stationed around the world, including those deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
New Orleans fullback Kyle Eckel said he’ll think of those servicemen and servicewomen on Sunday.
The military remains in Eckel’s mind, and that makes sense considering he played for Navy before embarking on his NFL career.
"They’ve got the hardest job in the world," Eckel said. "Sometimes it might seem thankless, but I hope they know that’s not true. I hope they know that guys like me and guys here appreciate it every single day."
Officiating crew chosen for Super Bowl
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Referee Scott Green will lead a seven-man crew in officiating Sunday’s Super Bowl between the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints.
The NFL announced the game officials Wednesday.
Green is finishing his 19th season in the NFL. He was a back judge in the 2002 and 2004 Super Bowls. He has been a referee since 2004, and will be officiating his 13th playoff game.
The other officials are umpire Undrey Wash, head linesman John McGrath, line judge Jeff Seeman, field judge Rob Vernatchi, side judge Greg Meyer and back judge Greg Steed.
The crew has a combined 66 years of NFL officiating experience.
Under the league’s evaluation system, the highest-rated eligible officials at each position earn a Super Bowl assignment.
