I smell a nice rivalry cooking. On Friday night, the Saints’ staff at the combine gathered in a private room at St. Elmo Steakhouse, an 108-year-old Indy landmark, for a final celebratory nod to the Super Bowl win over the Colts. This is a group that likes its wine, and likes to have fun. At the restaurant, word passed that Dallas owner Jerry Jones would have his Dallas group in this exact room Saturday night for a team dinner. Jones had even phoned ahead, according to a waiter, to make sure a magnum of a wine he loved, Caymus Special Selection cabernet sauvignon, was ready to be served at dinner. Sean Payton told the waiter he’d like to have that wine, too. The waiter told him: Sorry, sir. We have only one bottle left, and it’s reserved for Mr. Jones. Payton said he’d like to have the bottle nonetheless. I assume there was much angst on the part of the wait staff at that point. My God! Who do we piss off? One of the most powerful owners in the NFL, or the coach who’s the toast of the NFL, the coach who just won the Super Bowl? Here came the bottle of Caymus Special Selection, and the Saints’ party drained it. But drinking Jones’ wine wasn’t enough. Payton gave the waiter some instructions, took out his pen … and, well, the Cowboys party found at the middle of their table the next evening an empty magnum of Caymus Special Selection cabernet sauvignon, with these words hand-written on the fancy label: WHO DAT! World Champions XLIV Sean Payton That’s the kind of thing Jones will get a big laugh out of.

From SI located here.

Once upon a time, quarterbacks couldn’t blink against an NFC South defense. Next season, they might be able to take a nap out there.

To borrow a phrase from an old friend, “Who scares you out there, bub?’’

Almost nobody in the NFC South. When it comes to pass-rushers, they seem on the verge of extinction in the division.

New Orleans' Will Smith is the last member of a dying breed of elite NFC South pass rushers.

We’ll start by singling out New Orleans’ Will Smith. He’s the best pass-rusher and best defensive end in the NFC South. He’s probably the only guy who scares anybody these days and that’s more than a little ironic because Smith used to be the guy with the underachiever label.

Read more by Pat Yasinskas

Saints Pro Bowl center Jonathan Goodwin was a key part of the best offensive line in football, and in the first Super Bowl in team history.  He was kind enough to chat with me about that Super Bowl victory and the season as a whole:

1. First, I have to ask, how would you describe the atmosphere in the Superdome after you won the NFC Championship?
Electric!! As soon as the kick got over the line of scrimmage the fans in the end zone started to celebrate, so at that point I knew it had to be on track to be good. After that it was a man hug session (haha). We all were so excited! Everything that we said we wanted to accomplish had been done. We still had one goal left, but to get to that point was a great feeling for us also. Four years ago we got to that point and came up short and that was one of the worst feelings you can ever experience as a professional athlete.

Read the rest of the story here.

By Pat Yasinskas

You can vote for Drew Brees to be on the cover of “Madden NFL 11’’, but, if you believe in curses, you might want to think twice.

Brees, along with Jared Allen and Reggie Wayne are the finalists to grace the cover of the video game. For the first time ever, fans are voting to decide who gets the honor. You can vote here.

It would be a nice honor for Brees, who some fans think gets short-changed because he plays in a small market. But it also could be dangerous. There are a lot of previous cover boys who have suffered from the “Madden Curse” — getting hurt or having a bad season after appearing on the front of the box.

Read the story on Pat’s NFC South Blog.

By Pat Yasinskas

New Orleans Saints

Unrestricted free agents: Safety Darren Sharper and linebacker Scott Fujita

Key figures: The Super Bowl champions face a difficult call on Sharper. The veteran came in and had a fabulous season on a one-year contract. Using the franchise tag on Sharper might not be a bad move because it would guarantee him sticking around for another year. Given Sharper’s age, a long-term contract might not be a wise investment. Fujita also played at a high level last season, but he’s getting older and the Saints have some promising young linebackers. But there is something to be said for continuity when you win a Super Bowl, and the Saints will make some effort to keep their veteran leaders. They also have a slew of restricted free agents, highlighted by guard Jahri Evans, to protect.

Story from Pat’s NFC South  Blog

By Pat Yasinskas

New Orleans Saints

The good news is the Saints don’t have a lot of big needs and with the 32nd overall pick, they won’t be locked in on any one position. They’ve got several ways they could go early in the draft. A defensive tackle to play next to Sedrick Ellis would be nice. But the Saints also could look to get a pass-rushing defensive end to push or take over for Charles Grant. Some eventual replacements for linebackers Scott Fujita and Scott Shanle also would be nice, but the Saints aren’t desperate yet.

Story from Pat’s NFC South Blog

NEW ORLEANS — Where were you when the Saints won it all? It’s one of those questions — like, Where were you during the Apollo 11 moon landing? — that will be asked a lot in the decades to come by generations of sports fans trying to put their lives in the context of something far bigger.

Where was I? Inside Al and Patricia Jones’s house in the Ninth Ward. I met them for the first time when I showed up on the doorstep early in the fourth quarter, just as the Colts missed what would’ve been a lead-extending field goal and the Saints were rearing to take everyone in this town on the ride of their lives.

New Orleans already had a singular reputation for hospitality, but during the Super Bowl the city eclipsed its own lofty standard. Even the most seasoned party crasher would’ve struggled to keep up with the Joneses, who didn’t go 10 minutes without offering me something to eat (I’m good), five minutes without checking on my drink situation (I’m good), or two minutes without apologizing for the rowdy family members that congested their living room. (Goodness, were they hilarious.)

Super Bowl XLIV was the most-watched event in television history, with 106.5-million viewers tuning in Sunday to see the New Orleans Saints defeat the Indianapolis Colts 31 to 17. CBS execs now have to hope that a few among those record numbers have long memories as none of the all-day coverage of the big game is eligible to compete at the Sports Emmys till next year.

When the nominations are announced next month for the 31st anniversary edition of the Sports Emmys, it will be Super Bowl XLIII that contends. NBC carried that 2009 game in which the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals 27-13.

Read the story here.