ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -Sean Payton has been showing off the Vince Lombardi Trophy at the NFL meetings this week, even taking it over to the PGA Tour stop at Bay Hill.
The responses have been mixed.
“It was like the Holy Grail,” the New Orleans Saints coach said Wednesday of his visit to the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
As for the NFL owners, coaches and players who have watched Payton and the Saints hoist it everywhere from Bourbon Street to Disneyworld?
“I think they’re jealous,” Payton said. “If you’ve never been to New Orleans, that Super Bowl party began 27 years ago. And it will never end.”
One thing Payton knows is that his team has to avoid a Super Bowl hangover.
Ever since beating Indianapolis in Miami, the Saints – an NFL also-ran for much of their 43 years- have savored the win. Remember, this is the franchise that, after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Big Easy in 2005, was forced to play all its games away from New Orleans.
The city has had perhaps more parades and parties than any recent Super Bowl winner, turning Mardi Gras into a Saints celebration. Payton admits all the extra appearances have left him with less time to prepare for next season.
“Seems like we just got back from the Super Bowl and I got a March Madness bracket to fill out,” he said. “I couldn’t even tell you who’s on the bracket.”
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