The Saints have the advantage, they have Drew Brees. Payton Manning may be one of the best QB's to every play in the NFL but Brees has much more to prove and the city and team he is playing for are here to win this game.

The Chargers were playing against the Broncos in 2005 when Brees suffered the worst shoulder injury that the famous Doctor James Andrews had ever seen. His arm bone actually came out of his shoulder socket and the chance of him returning to the NFL as a top performer was about 1%.

Dr. Andrews had to perform the surgery to repair Brees's shoulder within days of the injury or the shoulder would be so swollen that an operation would not be possible. Within one week of the injury Dr. Andrews employed 4 additional surgeons to help him perform the operation and repaired the worst shoulder injury ever witnessed by the great doctor.

During the operation the Doctor's found even more damage than they thought. There was a partial rotor cuff tear that also had to be repaired. All of the surgery was performed arthroscopically so that the recovery time would be shorter.

The surgery was a success but the rehabilitation of the shoulder was just as important. Brees had to be totally committed to his rehab work. He actually moved to Birmingham, Alabama for 4 months of vigorous rehab and lived with his in-laws Pete and Kathy Dudchenko. Dr. Andrews gave the responsibility of rehabbing Brees to Kevin Wilk who has been working with Dr. Andrew's patients for 18 years and told him good luck. Brees was in for some very hard and painful work; seven hour days of rehabbing with Wilk.

Brees accomplished full range of motion in his shoulder in only 8 weeks. He was determined to have a full recovery and get back in the NFL.

He really wanted to keep playing for the Chargers but it was time to negotiate a contract and the Chargers were offering him an incentive laden contract that only guaranteed him 2 million dollars. This was in insult to the former Pro Bowl quarterback so he and his agent looked elsewhere for another offer. The only two teams that showed interest were the Miami Dolphins and the New Orleans Saints.

The Saints were coming off a dismal 3 - 13 season playing their home games in 3 different places, New Jersey, San Antonio and Baton Rouge. They had just signed a new head coach Sean Payton and the city was still trying to recover from hurricane Katrina. Brees looked at this as a blessing. He felt that this could be God sent and that he and his family could do more in New Orleans than just play football. They could make a difference to the city of New Orleans and be involved with something bigger than football itself.

The contract negotiations were somewhat simple. They offered Brees a one year 10 million dollar contract with a lot of future options. This was the best offer he had on the table and felt it was what he was supposed to do. Everything happens for a reason and he felt he was meant to be in New Orleans during the City's rebuilding.

Brees has been the driving force for the team on and off the field. He is the locker room leader and motivator. He has great work ethics, staying late every day after practice to watch that day's practice film. He and his family have spent many days working in the city and donating money to the charities there to help the rebuilding. He even lives in Uptown instead of where most of the Saints players live outside the city or near the practice facility. The city of New Orleans who was skeptical of Brees at first has now accepted him and very glad he is there.

Brees, the Saints and the City of New Orleans deserve to be in this Super Bowl. We will see more passion and effort out of this game than any before because of what the team and city has been through over the last 4 years. Let's sit back, enjoy the game and watch Brees and the New Orleans Saints play against Indianapolis Colts and Payton Manning. Good luck to the Who Dat Nation and the Saints. - Bob Bearden

Bob is a regular guest contributor on sports talk radio in the Southeastern United States. Bob's views and opinions on professional and college sporting events can now be found right here on the MC3 Sports Media's family of websites.

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