Give Me Jets, Give Me Saints, Give Me South Beach

Look, I like Wranglers, and I like this clip even more.

I love the symmetry between Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne, and I love me some Jared Allen.

I spent 16 weeks kissing at the feet of Dallas Clark (fantasy football purposes), and I’m not sure there are five things in life more exciting than the potential of Adrian Peterson ripping off a run that’s part Barry Sanders, part Walter Payton.

I root for the fans of Indianapolis because how painful this season would be if the Colts didn’t win it all after kicking a chance at perfection in the family jewels, and if Percy Harvin needs an Advil for those headaches today, I gotcha one Percy.

But when you’re feeling it, you’re feeling it.

I’m rooting for the New York Jets and New Orleans Saints today, and I’m making no apologies.

For full disclosure, it was only about six weeks ago when I clamored over the idea of seeing Manning battle Brett Favre in the Super Bowl. I got tipsy just thinking about it.

And if that actually happens, it would be too good to call a consolation prize. So in that regard, I’m stunned I’m pulling a Polian/Caldwell and ignoring that opportunity.

But the last month of the season changed me as a football fan (at least for this year), and I’m going with the guys who don’t have a ring.

Peyton got his in 2006 when he beat the then-respectable Chicago Bears, and Favre got his three lifetimes ago in Green Bay.

Mark Sanchez? What the @#$! is a team quarterbacked by the rookie Sanchez, coached by the rookie Rex Ryan, and representing J-E-T-S fans everywhere doing one win away from the Super Bowl?

I don’t know, but I love it.

I love it because it’s rare in professional sports that we get to witness a young athlete excel so early with swagger and confidence that should only come with, you know, experience.

Most rookies hold clip boards, listen to the plays on a headset, and hyperventilate when the starter goes down clutching his knee.

Not Sanchez. Sanchez came in with that Crest smile and cool, Southern Cali swag.

Sanchez had the faith to sit down in front of cameras on the campus of Southern California and tell America, when his ballyhooed coach just got done telling the country why he shouldn’t do what he’s doing, that he believed in himself, believed in his decision, and that he was going to work like heck to become a good pro. 

I’m as big a sucker as anyone for a young athlete that carries himself with confidence. Confidence breeds success and success breeds more confidence. It’s an attitude that usually takes an athlete a little while to grasp. Sanchez has it.

Perhaps that’s why Ryan is the best coach for this team. Ryan is boisterous and, at times, preposterous in his statements. It’s easy to understand why some people may be turned off by his brash ways and are hoping for nothing more than a Colts thumping in Indy.

But the thing about Ryan is, he doesn’t care. Ryan isn’t stupid, he’s not just talking for the fun of it. There’s a method to all this media madness he seems to enjoy.

I would argue that Ryan has been trying to grab the headlines because of the team he has, which is a team with a rookie QB. Ryan needs to be cocky for Sanchez. He needs to be bold so that his guys know it’s OK to believe they can win. Ryan needed to call his team “favorites” entering the playoffs to set the tone for what they are trying to accomplish.

It would have been easy for this Jets team to get beaten up by the Bengals and head home early. It would have been probable for them to travel cross country to San Diego and get whacked by Philip Rivers and the Chargers.

But they are still standing because they believe in what they are doing, possibly more than any other team still left. All of that started with Ryan and his sound bites. It wasn’t random.

Favre will bring his gray stubble to the bayou and hope to knock off Drew Brees and that Saints, but there’s something undeniable about the Saints that the Vikings don’t have.

We can talk about the “tortured” fans of New Orleans and how they have never seen the Saints go to a Super Bowl, but the folks in Minneapolis have their own sports dilemmas, too.

This is about more than championships. The Vikings are a great team, fun to watch, but that’s where the love ends.

In short, the Vikings feel like the epitome of professional sports. Great players, great fans, and Favre repeating how “he has another chance” to return to the Super Bowl. And that’s great, but that’s precisely what separates Minnesota and New Orleans.

In New Orleans, Drew Brees doesn’t have a chance to play in his first Super Bowl. The entire city is trying to accomplish it. It’s a “we” thing, not a “me” thing.

There’s a family feel that I don’t get with the Vikings. Lets be honest, if you aren’t a Vikings fan, then it’s hard not to root for the Saints. It’s hard not to root for the ultimate triumph for a city still cleaning up Katrina. There is no greater story in these playoffs, and when you hear the Saints talk about it, they know it, too.

Brees called it a “calling” to provide a thrill to these people. He feels obligated not to do it for himself, but to do it for everybody that dons Saints gold.

And, if that’s not enough, a Saints Super Bowl appearance would put Mardi Gras on hold. How can you not buy into that? The possibilities of the next three weeks make me want to pack up and move to New Orleans.

Really, we can’t go wrong. This Super Bowl has the potential to match last year’s thriller and then some.

Favre had his day, and Peyton will have another one.

It’s time for the Jets and Saints to finish two fairytale seasons.

You can reach Teddy Mitrosilis at [e-mail].