Hacksaw: San Diego Super Bowl connections

In this Dec. 12, 1999 file photo, New Orleans Saints dressed in paper bags, watch the game against the St. Louis Rams in New Orleans.

Connect the dots. There are many ties to the Super Bowl from San Diego to Monument Circle and Bourbon Street.

Drew Brees, the ex-Chargers quarterback began his career here, helping the Chargers recover from the Ryan Leaf (1-15) era. The quarterback the Chargers let walk as a free agent has thrown for more than 9,000 yards and 68 touchdowns in just his last two seasons.

John Carney, who was cut by seven teams, before finding a home with the Chargers, went to New Orleans after being released and found his second career. He is now the kicking coach with the Saints, putting a cap on an illustrious 20-year playing career.

Marshall Faulk, the legendary Aztecs running back, played for the Colts and grew up in New Orleans, and now works for the NFL Network.

Freddy Keiaho, a Colts special teamer, and Lynell Hamilton, a Saints running back, both played at San Diego State.

New Orleans head coach Sean Payton, receivers coach Curtis Johnson and quarterbacks coach Brett Ingalls were all part of the Aztecs coaching staff in 1989 that was part of the Faulk era under coach Al Luginbill.

Bill Polian, the architect of the Colts spectacular run, hired current Chargers GM A.J. Smith to help build Buffalo into a Super Bowl team. They are both from the same cloth, and subscribe to the same philosophy of building through the draft.

Jim Mora, who lives in Pacific Beach, coached both teams from obscurity to the playoffs.

Joe Staysniak, a former Chargers offensive lineman, played for the Colts also, and is now one of their broadcasters at WIBC.

Both teams have come a long way.

The Saints were once known as the “Aints” with the fans wearing Paper Bags over their heads. It is a remarkable story of not just the comeback of the franchise, but the emotional ties to the comeback of the flood-ravaged city.

The Colts, known more for fleeing Baltimore in the middle of the night in Mayflower moving trucks,  are now known as one of the great passing teams in NFL history.

Final score: Colts 38-Saints 31.

Lee Hamilton hosts “Sportswatch” on XX-1090 and broadcasts NFL football for the Compass Media Networks. His SDNN columns have been honored by the San Diego Press Club.

Tags: Colts, Saints, SDNN, Super Bowl

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 7th, 2010 at 9:55 am and is filed under Hacksaw Hamilton, Local News, Sports, Sports Opinion . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.