Saints in the Super Bowl? Ain’t that the truth.

Saints in Super Bowl is no mirage

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — On the first day of February, the New Orleans Saints will be preparing for a football game. Think about that for a while: The team once disparagingly called the Aints whose fans wore bags on their heads are heading to South Florida to play in the Super Bowl.

Historically one of the NFL’s biggest flops, the Saints (15-3) are at the top of the NFC. If they overcome the Indianapolis Colts next Sunday they will own their first championship.

Of course, they already own the undying loyalty of New Orleanians, based as much on their roles in rebuilding the Big Easy after Hurricane Katrina’s devastation in 2005 as on their football prowess.

“I think that prior to coming here (in 2006), you can’t appreciate maybe the relationship or how close the team is to this city,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “Logistically … the players here are closer to and living more amongst the community just because of the layout here in this region. But there’s been such a long-faithful fan base.

“And then after something as devastating as Katrina, to have the team be part of the rebuilding process and have the success certainly, I think, helps the spirits of everyone involved. And I think that all of us now that have been here that aren’t from here feel that and appreciate that and appreciate the true Saints fans that go back to the late ’60s. It’s pretty special for them.”

But the Saints also have become American idols with just about everyone except Colts fans and the oddsmakers.

And even some folks rooting for Indy (16-2) to win its second title in four years have a strong appreciation for the Saints.

“I lived in New Orleans 39 years and I’m very proud of what the Saints have done,” said Archie Manning, the first great Saints player — and the father, of course, of four-time MVP Peyton Manning. Peyton happens to be Indy’s quarterback and the man the Saints must slow down to have any chance for the first title in their 43-year existence.

He admitted that watching the celebrations on Bourbon Street after the Saints beat the Vikings last weekend was compelling. Manning’s top receiver, Reggie Wayne, grew up in New Orleans and he also recognizes just how special it is to be rolling in these good times on the Bayou.

“I had enough phone calls from back home to keep me on point with what they were doing,” Wayne said of the Saints’ success. “A lot of my friends are Saints fans. They were already putting us in the Super Bowl in Week 7, Week 6.

“My main focus was what was going on here. Now, it’s like my friends said back in Week 6, Colts vs. Saints in the Super Bowl. May the best team win.”

That America is counting the Saints among the NFL’s best is almost heresy. This is a franchise with a total of 10 postseason games, four since Payton became coach. Manning alone has played in 17; he is 9-8, but does have that one Super Bowl title, won in Miami three years ago. The only Saints playoff win before ‘06 came in 2000.

“I think in ‘06 it was hard to project maybe the success you would or wouldn’t have, and certainly in my first year, there’s some uncertainty in regards to how good you are,” Payton said. “But each year slowly and steadily we’ve been able to find the right players and instill a winning attitude and approach to how we do things in the offseason, how we do things from A to Z.

“And it starts with getting the right players and just giving them a chance, giving them a decent plan where they can be successful, having the right leadership, and putting the team ahead of any individual’s goals. New England showed a lot of people the way, if you were paying attention. If you weren’t, then it probably wasn’t going to matter. But if you were paying attention, you saw a team that did a great job of preparing hard and working together and having success, and that’s something that I think in any business you’ve got to look closely at who’s doing well in your industry, or else you’re going to fall behind.”

Forever, the Saints always were behind. Look at them now.