Drew Brees Avoids The Monkey With Super Bowl Victory

Heading in to the Super Bowl, I highly criticized the betting line of -4.5 for the Colts preaching that it was far too low for a team as strong as the Colts. I ignored all the hoopla surrounding the eventual Super Bowl XLIV champion Saints, refusing to tag them personally as a “team of destiny”.

The hardship of the city of New Orleans and the tremendous season of the Saints was lost to the wayside of what the Colts did in the 2009 NFL betting season and the deafening legacy of Peyton Manning. I hate admitting when I was wrong, but I have never enjoyed being wrong more than in Super Bowl XLIV.

A city mired in depression, catastrophe and destruction celebrated their very first Lombardi Trophy in style and it couldn’t come at a better time. With Mardi Gras just a week away from kicking off, the celebration in New Orleans will last forever. And to be honest, no city is more deserving.

Vindication had to be sweet for Drew Brees, especially winning in Miami. I had taunted Brees for being the new “Dan Marino” of our generation by piling up improbable statistics and numbers without an NFL championship to brag about. Brees was ironically jettisoned by the Chargers and thought about playing for Big Tuna in Miami before coming to New Orleans, where he felt a cosmic calling luring him to one of the NFL’s worst teams. Returning to Miami with the Super Bowl trophy in play, Brees would not be denied. Throwing 32-of-39 passes for 288 yards and 2 touchdowns, Brees submitted one of the best Super Bowl performances by a quarterback in history.. He tied Tom Brady’s completion record and secured the second highest efficiency rating behind Phil Simms. On a team that has never won a Super Bowl, as a player that had been shunned by NFL franchises and in a situation where he was an underdog, Drew Brees emerged as the MVP of the biggest game of the season.

Peyton Manning, perhaps the best quarterback in NFL history, was picked off for the game clinching score and despite all his marvels this season, he wasn’t able to secure the victory. But I’m not about to lay the blame on Manning.

In fact, the reason the Colts lost the game was because his receivers simply couldn’t keep their hands on the ball. Reggie Wayne ended the game by letting a ball slip through his gloved hands in the fourth quarter. Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon were also unable to keep plays alive. Manning dropped a ball in to the hands of Dallas Clark in quadruple coverage, but that was the only spectacular play of the day for Peyton.

Nothing typified this game more than Collie lunging for the onside kick that opened the second half and having the ball bounce off his shoulder pads. First of all, players in those situations should never dive for a ball that doesn’t crest the 10-yard marker because it would be a foul in the first place. You can’t give a team like New Orleans momentum and that’s exactly what Collie did by diving for a ball that wasn’t in play in the first place.

That’s the end of my “the Colts should have won the game” rant. I can’t hate on a city, a team and a player like Drew Brees that is so deserving of a Super Bowl victory. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the subsequent mismanagement following the disaster, and all the continuing social difficulties that have followed since then, the Saints have given the city of New Orleans something to cheer for yet again.

I shouldn’t be surprised by the Saints victory. I really shouldn’t. But I am. I never once believed that Peyton Manning would let the Super Bowl slip from his hands. Yet I underestimated what it means for a team to play for a city that deserves the victory so much. And again, I seriously devalued just how good Drew Brees can be when everything is on the betting line. For the record, Brees romped past three future hall of famers in Favre, Warner and Manning to win Super Bowl XLIV.

Drew Brees will be remembered for a lot of things when his career ends. His meteoric numbers will jump out on the stat sheet. The story about the relationship he had with his mother will be highlighted. The fact he was jilted by the San Diego Chargers will certainly gain some steam. Yet nothing will stand out more than Brees substantiating hope to the city of New Orleans.

The Saints will march back home to a rousing applause from their fans, while Drew Brees can rest assured that he has accomplished more with a Super Bowl victory than most quarterbacks ever can. It’s one thing to keep a monkey off your back, or overcome the betting spread as an underdog. Validating the prayers and desires of a downtrodden city, Brees has emulated what a champion should be to the people behind him.

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