Category — Drew Brees

No one is more anxious to get back to work than Reggie Bush. And for the record, we don’t believe he should be forced to give back his Heisman. Just more folks playing politics.
The Saints and Vikings, in a rematch of last season’s NFC title game, kick off the season Thursday night in New Orleans. Before all the hoopla at the game, there will be a parade in New Orleans, where the the locals will celebrate their Super Bowl victory over the Colts again. Just a warm-up act to the main event.
But can Drew Brees and the Saints repeat? They will have their work cut out for them and the odds will be against them. For starters, they will be facing an angry Vikings’ squad that believes it should have been the one crowned champ, but an ill-advised Brett Favre passed settled that. And the schedule will be a brutal one.
Regardless, plenty of folks are ready to settle in for another NFL season. And we couldn’t get a much better opener to tip it off.
Bottoms up.
NFL.com

The Professional Football Writers of America (PFWA) named Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees winner of the Good Guy Award today. The award is given annually to the NFL player “who best helped the media do its job.”
“I am honored to be recognized by the Professional Football Writers Association with their annual Good Guy Award,” Brees said. “The media is our strongest connection to our fans and it is important that we make ourselves available and be accountable when the time calls for us to meet with the media.
“The media tell our story and I recognize the important job that they have. Joining a select group of previous winners such as Kurt Warner, Brett Favre, LaDainian Tomlinson, Tiki Barber and Jerome Bettis shows that it is not only important to lead on the field like these guys have, but also to lead off of it as well.”
Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer was honored with the Halas Award, which is awarded to the individual in the NFL who overcame the most adversity to succeed last season.
Zimmer’s wife Vicki passed suddenly on Oct. 8 in the family’s home. The couple had been married 27 years. Three days later, Zimmer was with the team for its 17-14 victory over the Ravens in Baltimore. For the 2009 season, the Bengals ranked 4th in the NFL in total defense, their highest ranking since 1993.
“Anytime your name is mentioned with George Halas, and all the other people who have won this award in the past, it’s a terrific honor,” Zimmer said. “It’s a credit to our players and coaches, Marvin (Lewis) and my kids. They helped me hang in through the adversity. If I hadn’t had them, it would have been harder to continue on.”
Longtime columnist Peter Finney of the New Orleans Times-Picayune was named winner of the McCann Award, which honors a PFWA member for long and distinguished service.
Finney is in his 64th year covering sports in New Orleans. After missing Super Bowls I and II because his editor thought the game was “a fad,” Finney covered 40 consecutive Super Bowls.

Logic says the Colts will win Super Bowl XLIV. They’re the better team. But logic has never been one of my strengths. Look no further than the folks who have much better heads than me, the oddsmakers in Vegas, who are picking the Colts. That means plenty. They opened as a three-point favorite, but they’ve doubled that. Tony Dungy says it won’t even be that close. And what better authority is there than Dungy? After all, it took Peyton Manning less than a half to figure out the Jets, the league’s best defense. Midway through the second half, it was game over.
The Saints’ defense isn’t the Jets. It isn’t close. It ranked No. 25 in the league (Colts were 18th). And it’s why many believe Peyton will have a field day with it and the Colts will win their second title in four seasons. Be prepared for the greatest of all time arguments. And how many commercials will he have then?
But in my convoluted logic, I still believe offense is the best defense. N.E. Quinn and Bill Standford taught me that. So whatever Johnathan Vilma, Darren Sharper and the Saints’ unit lacks, Drew Brees and the offense can make up. They’re the league’s best, averaging more than 400 yards per game. A good defense stops offense you say?
OK, consider this: The Saints have one of the better rushing attacks in the NFL (they rank sixth) and the Colts were last in the league. It hasn’t meant much so far (unless you’re a Chargers’ or Jets’ fan) in this pass-happy era, but ball control means plenty for the Saints, particularly if they can keep Manning and his offense off the field and dictating drive after drive. Pierre Thomas will be a factor.
“It is very important to be balanced, to be able to run and pass and have each of those set the other up, because you can’t be one-dimensional against a team like the Colts,” Brees said. “They’ve shown with their pass rush and their ability to bring a safety down in the box to stop the run, if you are one-dimensional, they can eat you up. You have to be able to mix both the run and the pass and be effective at it.”
Here’s another stupid reason we’re picking the Saints: Isn’t Peyton due for a bad game and maybe the other Payton (Sean) is due a big one?
And what about Dwight Freeney? Yeah, what about him? The Saints aren’t buying his story (so why should we?), obviously believing he’ll play. But will he be a factor? We say no. Or it won’t be positive if you’re a Colts’ fan. And that’s another reason we like the Saints. How can Indy win if it doesn’t pressure Brees? The Vikings had the best front in football, and though the Saints struggled with it, they came out on top.
They’ll win this game too. Why ruin a good story and an awesome party?
Saints 33, Colts 31.

Drew Brees addressed the media today on several topics, including his relationship with Peyton Manning. Here’s a text of some of his comments.
On teammate Reggie Bush: “I don’t think there’s a player in the history of the NFL that came in with the expectations that Reggie Bush did. When you take what he did in college – a Heisman winner and all those things. For any young player, especially at the running back position, there’s a learning curve, just like there is at the quarterback position or any other position coming into this league. I think that so many eyes were on him and there was so much hype surrounding him, that’s a tough position to be in despite your athletic ability and all those things. I feel like he’s had great people around him early in his career, like Deuce McAllister, the coaching staff and guys that have really tried to take him under their wing and help develop him a little bit. He has battled some injuries here over the last four years at times. Maybe [he has] been a little disappointed at times just with kind of the role that he played, but I feel like he has really accepted that now and you see what he is able to do for us, not only running the football from the backfield, but when he’s catching the ball out of the backfield, when he’s split out catching passes, when he’s returning punts. He’s a very versatile player that can do a lot of things.”
On his relationship with Peyton Manning: “I met Peyton when it was his first year in the NFL, so I guess I would’ve been going into my junior season at Purdue. We had actually met at a golf tournament, ended up playing golf together, and then after that, he would call me occasionally during my season just to give me encouragement. I went up to Indianapolis and saw him play a Monday night game against Jacksonville. I remember the game like it was yesterday because he broke the franchise record for passing yards in a game, it was like 440 [yards], and then I went and saw them play the Titans in the playoffs one year. One time, specifically, we came back and beat Ohio State my senior year, and sure enough I have a message on my phone from Peyton saying, ‘Hey, I had a chance to watch the game. I’m really happy for you. Way to battle.’ For a young college player, here’s Peyton Manning, second or third year in the league, already kind of coming into his own, Pro Bowl player, one of the best in the league, for him to kind of reach out to me like that meant a lot to me as a young player. Who would’ve thought 10 years from then we’d be sitting here playing in a Super Bowl against one another.”