By John DeShazier, The Times-Picayune

February 06, 2010, 11:30AM

So much for no team ever reaching the Super Bowl after losing its final three regular-season games.

No, that dig doesn’t come courtesy of Sean Payton.

It’s mine, but, in fairness to the Saints’ coach, there are those (guilty as charged) who prominently mentioned that fact when New Orleans tumbled against Dallas, Tampa Bay and Carolina to end the regular season. And that opened the door for Payton to rebut the historical data with a new truth: The Saints lost their last three regular-season games but are the George S. Halas Memorial Trophy holders and NFC champions and will be playing against the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV on Feb. 7 in Miami.

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Written by Les East

MIAMI – The Saints players met with the media Thursday for the last time before their Super Bowl XLIV game against Indianapolis on Sunday night. It’s left to Coach Sean Payton to hold one last news conference Friday morning, then the entire team will be sequestered until kickoff.

NewOrleans.Com navigated the interview area at the team’s downtown Miami hotel Thursday to canvass Saints players for their final pre-game message for the New Orleans fans. So here, in their own words, are what the Saints players wanted to say to you, the Saints fans, as a sort of pregame message from South Florida.

There’s no more appropriate person to kick this off than punter Thomas Morstead, who handles New Orleans’ kickoffs:

“I’ve tried to let the fans know through the media this year that when we play at the Superdome, I perform better – kicking, kicking off – because the crowd’s going nuts and I’ve got the adrenaline going and that helps me kick the ball further. This week I’ve been thinking – I haven’t kicked off away since Atlanta. I didn’t kick off the last game of the season (at Carolina).

“So the last four games I’ve kicked off have all been home games. So I’ve actually been mentally rehearsing the “Stand up and get crunked” song that they play right before kickoff because the moment that first note comes on, it gets so loud, I get an adrenaline shot in my body, and that’s when I know I’m going to do well. So I’ve been mentally trying to rehearse that song …  we know they’re all  watching and supporting us.”

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NEW ORLEANS SAINTS HEAD COACH SEAN PAYTON

(Opening statement) “It’s been a good week of practice. We have two more; one today and a walk-through tomorrow at the stadium.”

(On the importance of Drew Brees’ comfort during the game and how they will achieve that) “Well I think the flow of a game is important for a quarterback. You try to look at the defense that you’re getting and try to get some rhythm for him. He’s a guy that can get real hot early and I look at it as a coach, our coaches look at it, as certainly an objective of ours. Sometimes it’s through intermediate throws, sometimes a screen, sometimes a throw down the field. Just having the right balance and mix is important, but I do think that (comfort) is important in any big game.”

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By Mike Triplett, The Times-Picayune

February 06, 2010, 12:00AM

MIAMI – Pierre Thomas has a mean streak in him.

The New Orleans Saints‘ tailback talks about how he wanted to kick down doors to break into the NFL, and he says all the time that he likes to run over defenders and break their will on his way into the end zone.

But when he does those things, he does it with a smile on his face.

That familiar smile has been plastered across Thomas’ face from the day the Saints picked him up as an undrafted free agent out of Illinois in 2007 to the night he emerged as the go-to guy in their NFC championship game victory over the Minnesota Vikings.

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By Pat Yasinskas

MIAMI — I’m clearly in the minority here and I know it. But I’m going to pick the Saints to win Super Bowl XLIV. I’m taking them 31-24 over the Colts.

Yeah, that might have something to do with the fact that I’m the NFC South blogger. But that doesn’t mean I’m being a homer. I’m basing my pick on the fact that I saw most of the Saints’ games this year and I believe it’s their time. I believe they’re a team of destiny.

The Colts are a great team and I fully understand why they’re the favorite. But I don’t think the people who determine favorites have seen enough of the Saints. They’ve got an offense that’s capable of staying with the Colts. They’ve got a defense that’s capable of producing a turnover or two, no matter how difficult that is against Peyton Manning.

Besides, all the pressure is on the Colts. They’re supposed to win. Even if the Saints lose, they’re still having a parade in New Orleans. But I think it will be a victory parade.

From Pat’s NFC South Blog.

By Mark Lorando, The Times-Picayune

February 05, 2010, 8:13PM

It’s not exactly Poydras Street an hour before a New Orleans Saints game. But walk down Ocean Drive, the South Beach boulevard of Art Deco hotels, bars, restaurants and boutiques that is ground zero for hard-partying Super Bowl fans, and there’s only conclusion the objective observer can reach:

The Saints are the home team Sunday.

“Oh man, it’s 10-to-1 Saints fans out here,” said Mark Wallace, area manager for Fat Tuesday, the daiquiri bar chain that has a location in South Beach. “And I’m talking about what I’m seeing walking around on the street. Inside our place, it’s 100-to-1 Saints fans.

“It’s absolutely crazy. We had planned for a big weekend, but we didn’t expect anything like what we saw Thursday night. And (Friday) is already off the charts.”

What Wallace and others in town have observed, but the event’s organizers are unable to quantify and loathe to acknowledge, is that south Florida is shaping up as perhaps the least neutral Super Bowl site in National Football League history.

It is an indisputable, if immeasurable fact: In bars and nightclubs, RV parks and hotels, Saints fans are blowing out Colts fans. It’s not even close.

Read the rest of the story here.

At the start of the season we had Gus Kattengell sending us stories each week about the Saints.  Well Gus is now working hard on AM 690 with the “The Sports Hangover” all week long from Miami, 10am-Noon”

If you are in New Orleans and want to listen live to Gus make sure you check out his show streaming live on the internet at http://www.wistradio.com/

Who Dat Gus !!

By Pat Yasinskas

MIAMI –- The defensive line coach of the New Orleans Saints and his best player got into an argument about numbers Tuesday.

aints defensive end Will Smith, often labeled an underacheiver, had 13 sacks this season.

Relax, Bill Johnson and Will Smith were just having some fun, sending messages back and forth through a reporter during Super Bowl XLIV week.

“The one thing I’ll admit is I feel bad that we’ve overworked Will,’’ Johnson said. “He wound up playing close to 800 snaps. The next highest guy on the defensive line was somewhere between 500 and 600.’’

“Eight hundred snaps?’’ Smith asked, looking shocked. “I played 1,000 snaps. Actually, I think the exact number was 1,008. You go tell him that.’’

Johnson was gone by the time the reporter came back.

“You couldn’t find him?’’ Smith asked a few minutes later. “That’s all right. I’ll tell him 1,008. It was no 800, I can tell you that.’’

The actual number of snaps can be hashed out between Smith and Johnson. The point is that Smith was on the field a lot, and, after being labeled as an underachiever at various points in his career, the defensive end produced what easily was his best season.

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By Kevin Seifert

MIAMI — I was at a friend’s house and I walked past a mirror. The person I saw, I didn’t recognize. Dark eyes. Looking bad. I realized I had to do something different. Everybody has their moment when they say, ‘Man, I have to do something different.’

For Anthony Hargrove, that moment came on April 4, 2008. A promising but troubled defensive end in St. Louis and Buffalo from 2004-07, he had been suspended from the NFL for multiple violations of its substance abuse program. It was time to get help.

What happened between that moment and today is one of the most compelling storylines of Super Bowl XLIV. Hargrove is now an important part of the New Orleans Saints, the only team willing to sign him last summer. He’s a havoc-wreaking defensive tackle and a 300-pound cover man on special teams. He has spoken openly and eloquently about his journey, and so it seems appropriate to let him tell most of this story himself.

When you have the kinds of problems I did, you feel like you’re locked in a closet. You’re hoping someone will come by and let you out. Finally, somebody did.

Read the rest of the story here.

By Nakia Hogan, The Times-Picayune

February 05, 2010, 6:00AM

MIAMI – The excitement has been mounting in the 82-year-old New Orleans Saints owner for some time.

A quarter-century worth of excitement and passion is raring to burst out of Tom Benson.

For the first time in his 25 years of owning the Saints, he can truly talk about being a champion.

The once moribund Saints are in the Super Bowl, and while he hasn’t thrown a single pass or made one play call, Benson is the man who has made the critical decisions in lifting a franchise from the NFL basement to the penthouse.

Read the rest of the story here.