GRAPEVINE, Tx. - Saints quarterback Drew Brees repeated his pick of the Packers for Super Bowl XLV Saturday morning, this time drawing a yelp of joy from former Packers great Bart Starr's wife, Cherry.
Brees did offer caveats and said both teams deserved it. If Pittsburgh's powerful running game gets in motion the Steelers could control the clock and the game, he noted, and obviously turnovers could tilt the balance quickly in one team's favor.
But on the whole he gave the edge to the Packers, "in a clean game."
He based his pick in large part on his admiration for Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers, whom Brees knows personally as the two worked out together in the off-season. In particular, Brees said he thought Rodgers displayed real class in the way he handled his wait to take over the starting job from Packers legend, Brett Favre, and then when the end of Favre's career turned into something of a circus and he wound up playing for a Packers rival, the Minnesota Vikings.
Above all, though, Brees said he admires Rodgers warrior spirit and the visible affection and respect he commands from his teammates on the field.
"Well, we'll see," Brees began, drawing laughter from several NFL Hall of Famers, dozens of well-wishers and a handful of media on hand after he won the Bart Starr award for exemplary leadership and character on and off the field.
"But I'll say this," he continued. "They're alike in many ways. Both teams deserve to be here and have been playing so well, especially lately. Two offenses I feel like are really the contrast. The Steelers are this running attack, eat up the clock, Ben Roethlisberger hard play action, getting outside of the pocket, extending the play. Where on the flip side, here's Aaron Rodgers and all the weapons he has on offense just pushing the ball down the field in the passing game. What I'm interested to see is the Packers ability to run the football in the game and the way that Green Bay's defense handles the Steelers run. But I'll say this, if the Packers play their best game - if this is a clean game - I feel like the Packers win..."
At that, Cherry Starr, sitting in the front row, exulted.
"Yay!" she exclaimed, as the room erupted in laughter and a smattering of applause from the Packers in the audience.
"A lot of Packers guys in here," Brees quipped. "I just think the Steelers have been here twice before so they know what it's like, having experienced before they have a lot of the same players who were on those Super Bowl championship teams. But the Packers haven't experienced this before and I think a part of that is the reason why I think they win. I know they're locked in, I know they're ready. I know they see this as the opportunity of a lifetime and they're going to win it because in their minds they feel like they have no choice, they have to. That's the way we felt last year."
NOLA.com wrote: