I'd like to begin this week's article by thanking Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner for gracing football fans with an unforgettable NFL career these past 12 years. Battered and bruised throughout much of this season—most notably against the Saints in the divisional round—Warner admitted that football just hadn't been as much fun in 2009 as it had been in seasons past, and after Arizona bowed out to New Orleans a few weeks ago, the former Arena Football and NFL Europe superstar opted for retirement.
The 38-year-old, who still, quite frankly, seems far from the twilight of his career, departs our company with ownership of the second-highest completion percentage in NFL history (65.5 percent), two league MVP awards (1999, 2001), and one Super Bowl victory (2000)—not to mention perhaps the greatest story in professional sports history. The former orchestrator of the Greatest Show on Turf, who was stocking supermarket shelves nearly a year before winning Super Bowl MVP with the Rams, wrote the beginning of his fairy tale with St. Louis, played a brief stint with the New York Giants, and ended his career with the Cardinals, whom he led to the team's first Super Bowl in franchise history.
Arguably one of the most likeable people in the public eye, Kurt Warner will be missed for his veracity, indomitable faith and spirit, and one hell of a right throwing arm. His oft-wobbly spirals that always seemed to hit receivers square in the chest are a big reason why his speech at Canton can already be heard faintly in the distance. Thank you, Kurt Warner.
Now let's see what Matt Leinart can do (that other sound you hear is Larry Fitzgerald demanding a trade)!
Oh, right. The Super Bowl is Sunday. Instead of boring you to death with half a newspaper's page worth of useless over-analysis, I decided to do something a little different this year. The Who will be performing at halftime, the What is Colts vs. Saints, the Where is Miami, the When is this Sunday at 6:25 p.m. on CBS, and the Why is just because.
But what if the Colts win? What if the Saints win? The things-to-look-forward-to-if-this-team-wins edition follows (and I'll try to keep it as concise as possible).
If the Colts win...
1. Peyton Manning will have successfully completed one of the best seasons in NFL history.
Maybe the best. Manning threw for 4,500 yards this season (exactly that number—it doesn't get much more perfect than that), finding the end zone 33 times—good for a stellar 99.9 quarterback rating.
He led the Colts to a 14-0 start before permitting the Jets into the playoffs in Week 16, but probably would have gone 16-0 had Bill Belichick been his head coach (but he is not, nor did his team win a playoff game this year). Manning also finished this season with a 68.8 completion percentage—a career high. The scary thing is, even at 33, Peyton may just be getting warmed up.
2. The red carpet game against Jets will (finally) be justified.
We all remember when Manning was benched at halftime in that game to ensure his health throughout the playoffs, and we all remember when Curtis Painter offered all of us a glimpse of how the Colts would fare without the 4-time MVP.
What we remember most, however, is that this fatal decision effectively ended Indianapolis' run at perfection—16-0—as the Jets rallied and won against a second-string Colts' side. Fans that day at Lucas Oil Stadium booed head coach Jim Caldwell's audacious decision, and from the sideline Manning looked visibly frustrated that he had been removed from the game.
The only thing that might be able to alleviate the letdown? A Super Bowl victory. Well, here they are. And if they win, my guess is at 14-0 next season, Manning's playing the whole game in Weeks 16 and 17.
3. Three out of the last four head coaches who have won the Super Bowl will have been African Americans.
Stunning when you consider that a mere three years ago was a first for African-American head coaches in the Super Bowl, and ironically, there were two of them: Chicago's Lovie Smith and the Colts' Tony Dungy, and Dungy prevailed. Now, it's his successor Jim Caldwell's turn.
4. New England will groan.
And let's be honest, that's really what this potential Super Bowl victory for the Colts is all about.
If the Saints win...
1. It will be the story of the year.
Make no mistake. This city, more than any other city in the country, deserves a championship. Its people have been through hell and back and a glistening reward for its longest-tenured team would be emotionally magnificent. Unless you are a Colts fan—or just straight up loathe the Patriots—I highly recommend backing the Saints this Sunday. And even if you are a Colts fan, I bet you'll have a hard time not feeling happy for New Orleans after they win.
2. Drew Brees may get his first foot in the door at Canton.
Three or four more seasons of sheer brilliance and precision-tossing the football downfield will probably seal it for the former Purdue Boilermaker, but a Super Bowl victory Sunday would be a giant step toward his place in the Hall of Fame. That, and it might have San Diego's front office ripping their hair out for ever letting him go. But Philip Rivers has at least been to the Super Bowl, right? Whoops.
3. It will be an NFC victory to open a new decade.
The Rams, Buccaneers, and Giants were the only three teams from the National Football Conference to win Super Bowls over the last 10 years in a decade that was dominated by the AFC. The rest were won by the Patriots (3), Steelers (2), Colts (1), and Ravens (1). Restoring some pride to the conference as a whole probably is not the Saints' main priority on Sunday, and I don't think it's quite like the A.L./N.L. rivalry in Major League Baseball, but fans whose teams reside in that conference will be happy to see the gold and black hoisting the Lombardi trophy in Miami this weekend.
4. Kim Kardashian might leave television for good.
I don't know why she would except for the outside chance that her boyfriend, Reggie Bush, would celebrate the Super Bowl win by retiring in Tahiti and bringing Ms. Kimmy with him. You know what? That seems kind of unrealistic, to be honest, and I think we want her on television anyway. And just so you don't think I forgot, here's my prediction: Colts 35, Saints 20, which, of course, means that New Orleans will probably win.