FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — By sometime before 11 o’clock tomorrow night NFL history will be made.
One of two things — both with seismic consequences — will occur:
* The Saints will win their first Super Bowl and send New Orleans into a frenzied celebration that might not end until the last beads are tossed from the final Mardi Gras float in two weeks.
* The Colts will win their second Super Bowl title in four years and push themselves — and their quarterback Peyton Manning — front and center in the conversation as one of the greatest teams of all time.
But a major factor in either of those results involves whether Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney will play and, if he does, how effective he will be.
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As of yesterday, Freeney remained listed as “questionable” on the injury report with a torn ligament in his right ankle, meaning he’s 50-50 to play.
Though Freeney said Thursday that he might try to practice yesterday, he again sat out, meaning he hasn’t practiced a single day since the injury occurred in the AFC Championship game.
Colts head coach Jim Caldwell put on a brave face over Freeney missing practice.
“This is right in line with our plans,” he said. “He’s making very good progress.”
To add to the Colts stress level, receiver Reggie Wayne limped off the field with 20 minutes remaining in practice with what Caldwell said was an irritation to the “fat pad” in his knee. The fat pad is the collection of soft tissue below the kneecap. Wayne has been playing with irritation there all season and it’s not thought to be serious.
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Though the Colts’ health status is a heavy backdrop to Super Bowl XLIV, there are alluring subplots everywhere you look.
The Colts, who won all 16 games they tried to win this season, have become the villains in this game with huge public sentiment tilting toward the Saints, who are playing in their first Super Bowl. A large portion of the sporting population wants to see New Orleans in delirious celebration just four years removed from the Hurricane Katrina disaster that left the city and its spirits in ruins.
Expect a heavy pro-Saints crowd at the stadium tomorrow — despite the fact the Colts are favored and are trying to overtake the Patriots as the most dominant team of the last decade. Pulsating South Beach has been transformed into Bourbon Street this week, with Who Dat Nation raging in the streets until sun-up.
There, too, is the unmistakable Manning connection to New Orleans: Peyton Manning, the son of Archie, one of the Big Easy’s favorite sons, grew up just off St. Charles Avenue in the Garden District.
Perhaps the most warming subplot to this game is the relationship the Saints have with their home city and the profound affect their success or failure has on the psyche of the people of New Orleans.
“A few weeks ago, a fan walked up to me and just started crying and said, ‘Thank you for what you did for our city,’ ” Saints receiver Robert Meachem said. “That makes you know that you are not bigger or better than anyone else, but you are doing something that’s good for our city. . . . Yes, we believe in destiny and faith.”
Safety Roman Harper said the Saints understand what this game means to the people of New Orleans.
“They want their Saints to win more than anything, and this is honestly the first time they have had all their dreams come true,” Harper said. “We have got to go out there and win it for them.”
The Colts want to win it for themselves and their legacy. Not that they really need validation after winning the Super Bowl three years ago, the Colts give the impression they are bent on winning a second Super Bowl in four years to make their mark as one of the NFL’s all-time great teams.
“To get a second Super Bowl ring and having the most wins in the decade would definitely let us go down in history,” Colts linebacker Gary Brackett said.
“Winning one, OK, there are teams that have won one,” Freeney said. “But teams that are on the upper echelon are the franchises that have won multiple Super Bowls, going back and doing it again [to prove] it wasn’t a mistake. That’s what we want to do.”
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SUPER FACT
With a win, the Colts would become one of eight teams in NFL history with at least three Super Bowl titles. The Steelers lead the way with six, the Cowboys and 49ers have five and the Giants, Packers, Patriots, Raiders and Redskins have three.