Super Bowl Capsules: Payton, Brees bask in glory of New Orleans' title

"You can't get enough of this," the Saints' head coach said at a news conference at the Fort Lauderdale convention center Monday morning. "This thing lay in my bed next to me last night, rolled over it a couple times. I probably drooled on it. But man, there's nothing like it."

Certainly, the New Orleans Saints never experienced anything like it.

Before this one, the Saints had only eight winning seasons — and two playoff victories — in their previous 42 years combined. New Orleans had to win three postseason games over three great quarterbacks — Kurt Warner, Brett Favre and Peyton Manning — to win the title this season.

The last quarterback standing was Drew Brees, who joined Payton in 2006 with the idea of transforming the Saints into champions for a region needing widespread rebuilding after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.

That was easier said than done, but in their fourth season together, they did it. Brees was chosen the Super Bowl MVP after Sunday night's 31-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. After that, his only remaining challenge was believing he'd actually pulled it off.

"I had to wake up this morning and turn to my wife and say, 'Did yesterday really happen?'" Brees said.

"Our victory last night was the culmination of four years of hard work, fighting through a lot of adversity, ups and downs and more importantly than that, representing a city that has been through so much," Brees said.

"Along the way, people have asked me so many times, 'Do you look at it as a burden or extra pressure? Do you feel like you're carrying the weight of the city on your teams' shoulders.' I said, 'No, not at all. We look at it as a responsibility.' Our city, our fans, gave us strength and we owe this to them. ... There's no people that you would want to win for more than the city of New Orleans."

As Brees spoke, Payton sat off to the side, elbows on knees, face buried in his hands. When it was his turn to speak, he recounted Vince Lombardi's grandson, Saints assistant Joe Lombardi, posing for a photo with the sterling silver hardware bearing his last name.

"Joe Lombardi, his father, Vince Jr., and his two brothers sat and posed with this trophy, the four of them, while pictures were taken. And I just thought to myself, 'You've got to be kidding me,'" Payton said. "If you believe in heaven, and you believe Vince Lombardi is there looking down on his grandson, it doesn't get any better."

Payton said when all was quiet in the team hotel around 3 a.m., he offered a prayer of thanks for his team and his experience in New Orleans, where he became a head coach for the first time in 2006. The city was still largely in ruin then.

"When we got into coaching or playing, we got into it for certain reasons and yet the reasons in New Orleans far exceeded what we ever expected," Payton said.

The theme for the Saints in 2009 became: A season of firsts. They opened with their first 13-game winning streak, which earned them a first No. 1 seeding in the NFC playoffs. That led to a first home NFC title game, then a first Super Bowl.

Their run to the Super Bowl captured the attention of football fans everywhere. The game was watched by more than 106 million people, surpassing the 1983 finale of "M-A-S-H" to become the most-watched program in U.S. television history, the Nielsen Co. said Monday.

Commissioner Roger Goodell called this Super Bowl "clearly more than a game.

"I keep thinking of the word 'magical,'" he said. "When you think about the relationship between the Saints and the Gulf Coast and the city of New Orleans, it was more than just a football game and more than just a football team. The hopes, the dreams and the struggles of that community were all reflected in that football team. It was a great night for the people in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region."

Throughout the past week, Brees used the Super Bowl as a platform to promote New Orleans' recovery and express his adoration for the distinctive and historic city. After the Saints' Super Bowl triumph, Brees agreed to appear on the Late Show with David Letterman on Monday night.

"We're going to enjoy this for a while. I think New Orleans is enjoying it right this second, still," Brees said. "We don't expect anybody to go to work today in New Orleans, or maybe for the next two weeks considering Mardi Gras is next week.

"We know what it's like to build something from the ground up and just to feel like this is our time. ... I think what's going to be fun is using the term 'repeat' all next year."

Colts hope loss fuels another Super Bowl run

He wasn't bothered by the questions Sunday night. He just couldn't believe he and the Colts lost to his hometown New Orleans Saints in the Super Bowl.

Moments after Indianapolis came up one win short of a championship, the Pro Bowl receiver downplayed the disappointment by focusing on next season.

"I'd rather win than lose, but I think once we get this feeling out of the way, we'll be determined to come back and get another shot at it," Wayne said.

Who could blame him for being upset? He'll hear about this loss for years.

It won't be any easier for other Colts, who will constantly be reminded of blowing a 10-point lead in the Super Bowl and failing to live up to expectations following a near-perfect regular season.

"I felt like we played well this postseason," Peyton Manning said. "We played well in our first playoff game, played well two weeks ago and, at times, made some plays against the Saints. We just didn't play well enough to win."

The Colts compiled several impressive accomplishments this season:

— They broke the NFL record for consecutive regular-season wins (23).

— They set the league mark for wins in a decade (115).

— They extended their own NFL mark of consecutive 12-win seasons to seven.

— They completed seven fourth-quarter comebacks, also a league record.

— Manning won his fourth MVP award, breaking a tie with Brett Favre for the most ever.

But they could have done so much more.

Late in December, the Colts were 14-0 and had a shot to join the 2007 New England Patriots as the only teams to go 16-0 in a regular season. But Indianapolis traded that chance for an opportunity to rest its starters down the stretch, figuring that was the best way to chase a second Super Bowl title in four years.

The Colts finished 14-2 in the regular season and 16-3 overall. Their 31-17 loss on Sunday to underdog New Orleans left both quests unfulfilled.

"I lost my last college game, too, and you never want to dwell on it," receiver Pierre Garcon said. "But it happens. You take it and use it as motivation to come back again next year."

Indy should look awfully familiar.

The likelihood of an uncapped season means players with less than six years' experience cannot become unrestricted free agents. The new rule will undoubtedly help the Colts, who started the season as the fifth-youngest team in average NFL experience (3.89 years).

The new rules also will prevent the Colts from making any splashy moves in free agency unless they lose a player. No big deal for a team that prefers to build through the draft anyway.

Jim Caldwell will enter his second season as head coach and he already has successors in place for retiring offensive line coach Howard Mudd, and offensive coordinator Tom Moore and team president Bill Polian if they decide to leave.

Indianapolis does have one big move to make — re-signing Manning, whose contract expires after next season.

But he's not going anywhere. Team owner Jim Irsay is prepared to make Manning the highest-paid quarterback in league history again.

"We'd like to get something done, sooner than later," Irsay said. "So once the season ends, we're going to be talking about that and hopefully getting something done before next season begins. It's something that's going to get done, so honestly, those aren't the ones you worry about."

The lack of movement and return of several injured players should make the Colts even stronger in 2010.

Former first-round pick Anthony Gonzalez was expected to have his breakout season after wide receiver Marvin Harrison was released in February. Gonzalez never got the chance, sustaining a knee injury in the first quarter of the season opener. That opened the door for Garcon, in his second season, and rookie Austin Collie, who both had big seasons.

With all three expected back next season, along with Pro Bowlers Wayne and tight end Dallas Clark, Manning could have his deepest and most experienced group of receivers since arriving in Indy in 1998.

Also expected back is 2007 NFL defensive player of the year Bob Sanders, who missed 17 of Indy's 19 games this season with a knee injury and torn biceps. Polian has repeatedly said Sanders will be healthy for training camp.

And the Colts think cornerback Marlin Jackson, their 2005 first-round pick, will return after tearing an ACL for the second straight season. In 2008, it was the right knee. This season, it was his left.

Even without those three players, the Colts still managed to reach the Super Bowl and come within 15 minutes of winning it. So they'll spend the offseason figuring out what it will take to get back to football's biggest game — and close it out.

"We're going to take our disappointment and let it fuel us a bit," Caldwell said. "We'll see what 2010 brings us."

-- Michael Marot