“I’m Scott Pelley. The Super Bowl is on CBS next week. We will be back in two weeks with another addition of 60 minutes.”
The weekly journalistic news program that has marked our times since 1968 had literally taken a back seat to the biggest non-holiday date of the calendar year:
The Super Bowl
From Sunday January 31st to Sunday February 7th the typical hype, excitement, and impatience grew more and more with every passing day. The theme affectionately known as Super Bowl week played out in Miami Florida. First, the media of news writers, television crews, journalists, and NFL insiders arrived in down town Miami. Then the players touched down from their charter flights in the sunshine state.
Tuesday February 2nd was media day.
The player/ reporter event was moved in doors on account of the unusually wet and cold Florida weather. The hot topics: Manning’s second Super Bowl, Dwight Freeney’s injured right ankle, and of course the City of New Orleans, and its Saints fans. The parties, dinners, live events, and social gatherings, continued until Friday, when the players went into seclusion. Super Bowl weekend arrived and the nights and days went by with their usual pace: sometimes fast, sometimes slow.
Then on Sunday February 7th 2010 the final day of the NLF season had arrived.
The NFC’s New Orleans Saints versus The AFC’s Indianapolis Colts
The preparation and build up all coming down to just one Sunday afternoon. For the two teams of ninety total players, and the millions watching around the world, the game was sure to play out one of two ways: One team would go home World Champions, the other in the agony of defeat.
At 6:10pm the madness and preparation went into overdrive. The game, just minutes away. The New Orleans Saints won the coin toss, not an uncommon occurrence for the NFC. The National Anthem had been sung, the final analysis had been discussed, and the last bathroom break, soda break, and snack break were over. Super Bowl Forty Four had begun.
The first position would show no reward for the Saints. Drew Brees did attempt one of his traditional long passes. But the results of the Saints first drive of the game, would be a “three and out”. Peyton Manning on the other hand, had no trouble moving the ball. His very first play of the Super Bowl was an 18-yard slant route completion to tight-end Dallas Clark. The Colts first drive would result in 11 plays over 5:53 minutes, and a Matt Stover 38 yard field goal. The Colts drew first blood, and the score was 3-0 halfway through the first quarter.
Score: Colts-3, Saints-0
Brees and the Saints once again looked lost on offense. They did convert a first down on a Reggie Bush catch, but soon after, they punted the ball back to Indianapolis.
It was on the Colts ensuing drive that Peyton Manning began incorporating Joseph Addai and the Indy running game into the Super Bowl. Powering down the field, Addai had two carries for 27 yards, during a series that concluded with a Colt touchdown. Manning’s 18 yard pass to Carcon was good for the first touch down of the day, and a 10-0 Colt lead at the end of the first quarter.
Score: Colts-10, Saints-0
It was looking early on as though a blowout was well underway.
However the Saints were not about to just roll over. It was a pair of unanswered field goals before half time, which kept the New Orleans Saints well within striking distance before “The Who” took the field to perform. The game could have been a lot closer, but Sean Peyton elected to try a fourth a goal play at the one-yard line. The Colts defense held, and so six points was the most New Orleans could muster up on offense through 30 minutes. It was safe to say, that when both teams departed from the field at half time, that Super Bowl XLIV was very much undecided.
Half Time Score: Colts-10, Saints-6
The second half started off as casual and nonchalant as any second half ever does. Twenty-Two total men lined up on the field, as the Saints prepared to kick the ball off to the Colts. But just then, in one of the most shocking plays in Super Bowl history, the Saints started the third quarter doing something that had never been done in Super Bowl history. The entire Saints team was in on it. Sean Peyton had tipped off the officials too. But the 106 million watching around the world were in shock! More importantly the Indianapolis special teams was in shock.
The New Orleans Saints, led by kicker Thomas Morstead attempted an onsides kick.
Morstead’s kick caught an entire nation off guard. The ball dribbled 12 yards before a cluster of players, both Colts and Saints, piled on top. The end result was a successful onsides kick and the ball belonged to New Orleans. Drew Brees then threw a series of short passes that ended with a Pierre Thomas touch down.
The Score: Saints-13, Colts-10
The first lead of the Super Bowl for the Saints would not last very long. Peyton Manning working a no huddle offense, charged his team down the field in his typical machine like fashion. Before anyone knew what happened, Joseph Addai was in the end zone for yet another Colt touchdown. The Colts re-established themselves and re-took the lead.
The Score: Colts-17, Saints-13
The Saints were still playing the roll of underdog. They added a Garrett Harley field goal to come within one point, 17-16. However the feeling that the game was going to come down to the last five minutes of the fourth quarter began to resin ate with everyone. And with the game on the line, Peyton Manning is Quarterback most everyone would want.
Drew Brees once again found the end zone. This time it was Jeremy Shockey, with the short pass catch good for six points.
The Score: Saints-22, Colts-17
I knew right then and there that the aggressive coaching of Sean Peyton would lead to a two-point conversion attempt. Brees threw yet another of his of his standard Super Bowl short passes. This time the pass was to Lance Moore. Moore caught the ball just outside the end zone, and just in front of the right pylon. Moore bobbled the ball as he fell to the ground. The ball was in the end zone, but it came to its rest out of Moore’s hands and on the turf. The initial call was an incomplete pass, but the ruling was overturned, after a video challenge, and the points were good.
The Score: Saints-24, Colts-17
“No problem.” I thought. The Colts have Peyton Manning: The greatest Quarterback of a generation. The Colts were sure to charge down the field and score. The game would be tied if nothing else. But with just less then six minutes left in the game, there was still plenty of time to determine a winner. Then in a move as shocking as the on-sides kick that started the second half, Peyton Manning did something I never would have expected. Driving down field, just six yards for the red zone, Manning sought out one of his favorite targets: Reggie Wayne. In an attempt to hit Wayne near the 20-yard line, Manning’s pass was read perfectly by Saints Cornerback Tracy Porter. As the ball flew through the air, Porter made it his destiny to steal it away from Manning and Wayne. Porter caught the ball with both hands at his chest. As if the interception alone was not dazzling enough for Saints fans, while equally devastating for Colt fans, Porter returned the intercepted pass 76 yards. The play concluded with Porter standing in the end zone having scored the game deciding touchdown. New Orleans went nuts! The game was all but over. Even the great Peyton Manning couldn’t lead his team back from such a devastating series of events. (Especially after just throwing the interception of a lifetime.) The final minutes of the game played out uneventfully.
When it was all over the Saints had won their first ever Super Bowl.
A team that was in shambles just five years earlier is now on top of the NFL. This was a franchise in rags. A team temporarily transplanted to Texas as a result of Hurricane Katrina. When the wounds of the deadly Hurricane began to heal, it was determined that the fate of the Saints would remain in New Orleans. But the fate of New Orleans remains in question even still today. A city that wanted so desperately to rally behind a winner in order to continue to help heal the wounds left behind from Mother Nature and a government that had failed its people had gotten its wish. New Orleans has something to celebrate. New Orleans has its Super Bowl Champion Saints.
