Filed under: SaintsNEW ORLEANS -- Faced with the unique (and next-to-impossible) task of trying to defend a Super Bowl title, New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton sought counsel during the offseason from others who have been in the enviable (and pressure-packed) situation. Payton, though, has declined to say who some of those individuals were.
But we know one, for sure.
Payton was a quarterbacks coach at Illinois when Jon Gruden, then offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles, came calling to hire him. Somehow, Payton squeezed respectable numbers from the Philly three-headed monster of Ty Detmer, Bobby Hoying and Rodney Peete, and off his career went -- to the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys as offensive coordinator, and eventually to the Saints in 2006 as a head coach.
It was Gruden, now the red-hot color analyst for "Monday Night Football," who came to Saints training camp last summer and promptly announced Payton's team as a bona fide Super Bowl contender. It was Gruden who addressed the Saints in advance of their divisional round playoff game against Arizona in January. And it's Gruden -- and his good karma -- who joined Payton and his players this weekend as part of his training tour to preview teams.
Gruden won a Super Bowl with Tampa Bay following the 2002 season. The Buccaneers returned virtually intact in '03, only to go 7-9 and miss the playoffs. The franchise had never won a title before, either, so the euphoria was all new. They had injuries on offense. When the losses piled up there was a high-profile clash between Gruden and Keyshawn Johnson. Those Bucs became a "Don't Let This Happen To You" poster for defending your championship.
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