Bags to Riches, Hard Not to Root for Plucky Saints on Super Bowl Sunday

In the NFL 30 fanbases are left with disappointing results and a sidelined team when the Super Bowl rolls around.  Some choose to simply watch the game from an objective standpoint, some pick the team they wish to root against, and some will choose a side and become “fan for a day”.

While Indianapolis is the favored team going into the Super Bowl, and has its own share of reasons one could argue that they merit support, the team faces stiff competition in the New Orleans Saints.

The New Orleans Saints hold with them a great blend of attributes that naturally cause people to gravitate towards them even when those Saints aren’t necessarily their own team.  Most of the reasons and stories have been repeated ad nauseam, but within the two week build up to the big game, what aspect of either team is not?

Here’s just a few of the pieces that will have Indianapolis fans somewhat outnumbered through no fault of their own on the big day.

1. Underdog—The simplest and easiest.  The Colts are the favored team.  That inherently shifts many a casual fan to choose ‘the other guy’ simply on the power of the Las Vegas oddsboard. 

2.Rallying point—No team developed a bond with its hometown like New Orleans did when its stadium became a refuge for tired, scared and overwhelmed citizens displaced by natural disaster. 

So while the team-city-hurricane correlation may seem to have become a rote topic by way of multiple years of coverage now, it has lost none of its poignancy for a those involved, and a certain measure of empathy that the team draws on a nightly basis.

3.History—Indianapolis not only has been a playoff-making machine since Peyton Manning ascended to the league’s elite cadre of quarterbacks, but also took home the ultimate victory not all that long ago.  Following another solid campaign in 2006, Manning finally found his goal as the Colts defeated the defensively dominant Chicago Bears in Super Bowl forty-one.

The Saints… haven’t.  This is New Orleans’ first trip to the Super Bowl in a history that stretches back to 1967.  Just last season they were 8-8 and failed to qualify for a playoff berth at all.  It does not require reaching that far back into one’s memory to recall when the New Orleans Saints were nicknamed the ‘aints and bag-headed attendance was the norm.

Over the last few years the team has been far from the embarrassment of its brown-bag era, yet it does not tread into the pantheon of great teams this decade the way Indianapolis does.

4.Island of Misfit Toys—Indianapolis general manager Bill Polian has assembled a tremendous crop of talent through primarily homegrown means (i.e. draft not free-agency).  His model is that which many teams try to emulate and none have been able to do with nearly the same consistency.

New Orleans stands as something of a mirror image, a mutt comprised of many players cast away from other teams.

The team’s heart and soul, quarterback Drew Brees was drafted by the San Diego Chargers, and appeared to be making progress after a slow start to his career.  With concerns over a shoulder injury and a fourth overall draft choice waiting in the wings, San Diego elected not to pursue their free agent quarterback.

Brees was pursued by New Orleans and rewarded the Saints faith with a series of mvp-caliber years, including a 5,000 yard season.

Captaining the defense is Darren Sharper, whose Minnesota Vikings career came to an end as the purple and gold elected to go younger.  At 34 Sharper was considered still savvy, but slowing.  Instead Sharper turned in nine interceptions on the year for over 375 return yards (in other words, the average yardage of a middle of the road offense’s second or third wideout).

Jeremy Shockey was not a free agent, but traded to New Orleans when the Super Bowl winning Giants felt content to go with the younger, cheaper Kevin Boss.  Despite missing three games to injury, Shockey proved his value by putting up more catches and yards than Boss.

Even draft-talent continues that somewhat misfit trend.  Star wide receiver Marques Colston was perilously close in the draft to ‘Mr. irrelevant’ status (last pick in the entire draft), going 252^nd overall to the Saints in the seventh round of the 2006 draft.

5.Excitement—Both teams pair high powered offenses with league-leading quarterbacks to put up great totals that are fun to watch.  Yet Manning has taken his array of talent and wideouts to a level that can be so efficient it feels clinical.  This is paired with a very even-keel coach in first year head-man Jim Caldwell.

With head coach Sean Payton, the team will not only put up yardage and points, but it can never be predicted in what manner they will do so.  The team is dynamic and unpredictable, just like animated coach himself.

All this boils down to a bronze and black bent to Super Bowl parties across the nation that seem to be taking a decidedly French twist.  So while the Colts team is one to be admired, New Orleans seems to have temporarily rented out Dallas’ title, and become America’s team.