Getting to know the Saints and Colts -- one quote sheet at a time

MVP Peyton Manning got the Colts to another Super Bowl, despite fielding the NFL's worst rushing attack and a mediocre defense. Andy Lyons/Getty Images Super Bowl XLIV SI.com's Coverage From Miami BANKS: Brees, Saints overcome adversity POSNANSKI: Another big loss for Peyton BONVISSUTO: Saints' onside kick pays off BYRNE: High marks for Brees and Payton BANKS: Super Bowl XLIV Snap Judgments LOPEZ: Indy defense, special teams falter DEITSCH: Cowher, Nantz step up for CBS PERLOFF: Against The Grain observations SI Photos Best shots from Super Bowl XLIV The Who rock halftime show

My iPhone buzzes every 28 seconds. This is not popularity. Obviously. This is the NFL emailing me another Super Bowl quote sheet. And another. And another. Remi Ayodele! Raheem Brock! Jeff Saturday! Queen Latifah!

Super Bowl quote sheets are one of the many things that stunned me when I started to cover the Super Bowl. If you cannot talk to the players (or get to the all the players you needed), the league will go and talk to the players for you. They would get you quotes. Free. Incredible. Now, true, these were not always the most compelling and enlightening quotes ...

Sample quote from Indianapolis tight end Dallas Clark quote sheet:

(On how the Colts adjust during the game): "There's a lot of adjusting and making moves on the go."

... but, seriously, how could you beat this? They would get quotes for you ... from virtually every player on both teams. Plus coaches. Plus celebrities. One of the things I would do at every Super Bowl I ever attended was collect all the quote sheets -- I go back to that era when we would read things on this substance called "paper" -- and read through them to see if I could learn anything about the game. I did not learn anything* but it was fun.

*It was also dangerous. The thing about reading all the quotes is that, at some point, you start to buy into the clichés and the hype and you can begin to lose touch with reality. I remember the San Francisco-San Diego Super Bowl here in Miami in 1995. Coming in, everybody KNEW the 49ers were going to wax the Chargers. That game had no chance to be close. I knew this on Monday. But during the week, I talked to a lot of players and I read all the quote sheets, and by Thursday, I started to think that, 'Hey, maybe the Chargers had a chance.' By Saturday, I had so much knowledge and perspective that the game seemed to be a toss-up.

Then, on the first play on Super Bowl Sunday ... San Francisco's Steve Young threw a bomb to Jerry Rice, who was open by about 45 yards. And I thought: "Hmmm, I guess I was right the first time."

They still have the actual Super Bowl quote sheets -- covering about 10 picnic size tables -- but now the league magically transmits them right into my phone and ... hold on, my phone's buzzing. Hey, it's a Super Bowl quote sheet from New Orleans coach Sean Payton. Let's see what it says.

(Opening Statement): "It's been a good week of practice. We have two more; one today and a walk through tomorrow at the stadium."

Riveting. OK, so now I'm going to attempt the ultimate Super Bowl magic trick ... I'm going to write a Super Bowl XLIV story with XLIV quotes in it. Please, don't try this at home.

* * *

Well, we know the clichés. We know, as New Orleans receiver Courtney Roby says, "Special teams will be very, very important." We know, as Saints backup quarterback Mark Brunell says, the teams have to "go out there and execute."*

*Or in the words of Indianapolis defensive back Antoine Bethea "Go out there and make plays".**

**Or in the words of New Orleans linebacker Scott Shanle: "I think you make your own luck."

We know that turnovers will play a major role in the game because both offenses are so good. "The name of the game in football, especially for defense, is creating turnovers," Saints cornerback Jabari Greer says. It's an interesting twist adding that "especially for defense" in there.

Colts defensive back Kelvin Hayden is even more direct. "We want to force turnovers," he says.

But these things are basically true of every Super Bowl -- of every football game, really. Special teams. Turnovers. Make your own luck. Whatever. The question is: What makes THIS Super Bowl special? What defines this matchup between a Saints team that won their 13 games and a Colts club that won their first 14 games? What makes Super Bowl XLIV different from the XLIII games that came before?

Well, you have to start with Colts quarterback Peyton Manning. It's a funny thing: When the season ended, people were discussing who should be MVP. Seriously? What would Indy's record be this year if they had even an average NFL quarterback? Before you answer, remember: The Colts finished dead-last in rushing offense. They had one proven wide receiver -- Reggie Wayne -- and a couple of young guys with unlikely football names: Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie. Their defense finished 18th in yards allowed and 18th in forcing turnovers and 17th in sacks.

And that team won its first 14 games and reached the Super Bowl. Peyton Manning isn't just the league's MVP this year, he might be the league's ALL-TIME MVP.

"Unlike everybody I've been around," Colts quarterback coach Frank Reich says. "He knows everything that's going on, on the field. Everything."

I believe Manning will go down as the greatest quarterback in NFL history. He might already be there. And while, yes, it does something seem that Manning is overexposed -- you can't escape Peyton Manning -- he is probably the best spokesman for any sport in America right now. What's not to like? He's classy, he's funny, he's an incredible player. A lot of that, of course, comes from his father. I really like this quote from Peyton -- on joining Archie Manning on the field after a game as a child.

"My dad would always come out and get us on the field and take a little time to be with us," Peyton says. "He always would sign his autographs for all fans after the games. Most of these times after tough losses. But I couldn't tell at the time. I didn't really know if they won or lost at the time. I was 3, 4, 5 years old. He was always the same. So that always had a positive influence on me."

Manning, of course, is unlike any other quarterback. He knows. He maneuvers. He may be funny in commercials but not on the field ("He's not really cracking jokes in the huddle," Colts offensive tackle Ryan Diem says). Before every play, it seems, Manning points this way. He yells that way. He waves his arms. He shouts what sounds like nonsense.

"Everything Peyton does means something," Collie says.

"Ninety-five percent of the time, it's real," running back Joseph Addai.