Who Dat Say!?: NFC Champions Edition

You know I wanted to write some emotional, sappy crap for the morning after this momentous game (probably will be the highest traffic day we've ever had) but I will be damned if I'm gonna mess with any tradition or mojo we've got going this season...so...here is your "Who Dat Say!?"

Remember, this has been a great moment for the franchise and for the city but there is still more work to be done. The world must know who we really are. 

Twitter

ltorrence24 Who Dat, going to the Superbowl! Thanks for the support, what a great day! Praise be to God!

reggie_bush Who dat

reggie_bush Today was a game of inches! But we got the win! New Orleans stand up ! South East San Diego Stand up! We here!

BillyMiller83 Congrats NO!

usama_young28 Congrats NO... Time to go to Miami baby. Thanks for all the support! Who dat!!!!!!.... Largo reppin!!!

MalcolmJenkins Super Bowl!!!!.... Thanks to the city of New Orleans and all the Who Dat Nation for all of the support

.... We're gonna bring it back home!

BillyMiller83 Will send you a pic of me n Drew holding the NFC Trophy!

BillyMiller83 Thank you Lord

JeremyShockey playing on 1 leg sux... ill get beter soon... wish i could help our team more but ill be great in 2wks.

JeremyShockey wwell bed time!!!

wwltvsports Pierre Thomas: ""Honestly, I thought I was going to see some fans run on the field. "

lholder_cbs_nba   Jabari Greer on Tracy Porter's INT off Favre late in the 4th: "That lucky bastard. Man, he's going to get in history."

jeffduncantp Finally, heading out of the Dome. I kind of feel like Sean Payton. His post-game words: "It's all a blur."

jeffduncantp In case you're interested, the Colts are 4.5-point favorites over the Saints in the Super Bowl.

wwltvsports Funny scene in Dome right now: Several TV stations haven't finished their live shots and the Dome lights have just been turned off.

wwltvsports And the statement from a clown on the stadium floor: "Who Dat say we gonna need dem lights!"

Linkage

Handwerger: Fans believed in the unbelievable- WWLTV

"It’s something we still talk about," said Shanle, a linebacker for the Saints. "A disaster like that, it affected a lot of people. It changed the city after that happened. A lot of times, the Saints are what people look to every weekend. It’s their getaway. They root for the Saints. And we’re happy we can give them good football every weekend."

-Scott Shanle

"I don’t think there’s a team that’s more connected to the city they play in than the New Orleans Saints," Saints offensive tackle Jon Stinchcomb said. "Since Katrina, we’ve rebuilt this organization as this city has rebuilt itself. From the team’s perspective, the city embraces us and I hope they understand how much we try to play for them and give back to them too."

-Jon Stinchcomb

Bush has shaky game but performs when needed - WWLTV

"You know what? It's a team game and that's one of the things that I'm learning slowly but surely," Bush said. "I can't just try to put  the team on my back and win the game. It's not like the college days or the high school days. Not every game am I going to be the star."

-Reggie Bush

"We opportunities come you make the most of it," Bush said. "I had a chance to bounce back, had a touchdown that was huge for us. It was the last touchdown we scored and it's a tremendous feeling just to be a part of this."

-Reggie Bush

"By the time I caught it I looked and he was right there in my face," Bush said. "It's a game of inches. ... I was thinking, obviously it wasn't meant to be, just try to bounce back. Do whatever you can, just don't overdo it."

-Reggie Bush

"Obviously the turnover is a bad mark on the day, but you look at his whole body of work and that touchdown he made, just what he brought to this team -- he's one of those dynamic players that a defense really has to account for,"

-Jon Stinchcomb

"It's part of football. You're going to have differences of opinions with your coaches. It's an emotional game. He wants to win. I want to win,"

-Reggie Bush

"This was special, but it will be even more special if we win the Super Bowl," Bush said, adding that he's taken a valuable lesson out of his varying performances the past two weeks. "Just let it come to you. When it's your time, it's your time. Don't try to overdo it," Bush said, reflecting back on his muffed punt. "You can bet 100 percent that it won't happen again in the Super Bowl."

-Reggie Bush    

 Vikings Lose 31-28 In Overtime Thriller - Vikings official website

`It was as loud as I have ever heard it in the dome,'' Brees added. ``It feels so good to know we have given our fans an NFC championship. We have another championship to go after in two weeks.''

-Drew Brees 

`I would have loved to represent the NFC,'' said Favre, who grew up in Mississippi a Saints fan. ``But, as I told Sean throughout the year when we talked, if it's not us, I hope it's you guys.''

-Brett Favre

New Orleans Saints win NFC championship, advance to Super Bowl XLIV - Times-Pic

It comes to pass: Colts, Saints to face off in Super Bowl XLIV - USA TODAY

Arm wrestling: Colts-Saints Super Bowl to be an aerial assault - Sporting News

Brett Favre didn't make enough plays in Saints-Vikings NFC Championship game - SI.com

Buddy D finally dons his dress as New Orleans Saints reach Super Bowl - NewOrleans.com

 NFC championship game: New Orleans Saints beat Minnesota and will go to the Super Bowl  - Times-Pic

 New Orleans Saints Superfan, police report for duty - Times-Pic

 NFC Championship Game - New Orleans Saints official website

 2010 NFC Champions Official Merchandise - New Orleans Saints official website

 Who Dat Nation erupts with joy as New Orleans Saints win NFC championship - Times-Pic

Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints and Their Fans - Daily Norseman

Exciting Game, Unsatisfying Ending: New Formula for Overtime Needed - The Fifth Down Blog - NYTimes.com

Videos

Audio

In order you've got the NFC Championship Trophy presentation, Jonathan Vilma, Reggie Bush, Jahri Evans, Scott Shanle, Garrett Hartley, Anthony Hargrove, Drew Brees, Pierre Thomas, Marques Colston, Jonathan Stinchcomb, Archie Manning, Hokie Gajan, Deke Bellavia, Bobby Hebert, another Bobby Hebert and finally a regular clip.

Transcripts

Sean Payton

"It's hard to come up here and talk about the significance of that group of guys in the locker room and the significance of this win. I'm proud of them. I'm proud of our fans. I'm proud of the hard work it took to get us to this spot. It's a pretty special feeling.

On the defense: "There was a lot of momentum shifts in that game. Just after the game ended I had a chance to visit with (Brett) Favre for about five minutes, and I've never seen two quarterbacks compete and two defenses hang in there, and the offensive lines play the way these did today. I tip my hat to Minnesota. You had two teams that played their hearts out. I'm glad we were able to win and I'm proud of just having a chance to coach these guys in a game like this. Garrett (Hartley) hit a big kick obviously, for us and we just kept fighting. The momentum shifted back and forth and we just kept battling and it was a heck of a game."

On what he told Hartley: "I just told him there's a little fleur de lis up there right between both uprights, and I said why don't you see if you can hit this fleur de lis dead center. We belong, you are here for a reason and you are going to hit it through. He has just been real consistent for us and obviously it was a big kick."

On the significance to this organization: "It's hard (to explain). Four years ago, there were holes in this roof. The fans in this city and this region deserve it. Like I said before, I'm just proud to be a part of it, to be part of something that is so special for this city and well deserved."

On comparing now to when he first came to New Orleans: "There are a handful of coaches and players that were on that first team, and I would say to those players and coaches that aren't here now, they're just as much a part of this. They know who they are. I can't go through every one of the names, but there are a lot of people who came when no one else wanted to come. There a lot of coaches and a lot of players that aren't with us now, and I appreciate them."

On fourth down call in OT: "I'm trying to think of the call, did we go for it? We weren't close enough for a field goal. We called everyone over and said, 'hey, look we've come this far.' Pierre (Thomas) ran behind those two guys and did a great job of getting the yard and a half we needed. It was significant."

On the takeaways: "I know this; we came up with the turnover margin pretty significantly. I think five-to-one, so credit Minnesota at five-to-one and we win by a field goal. That's unusual."

On Pierre Thomas: "He played hard. He battled. The screen play early in the game to answer their touchdown was significant when they went up 7-0 it was kind of like last week. He made a bunch of big plays. He's been a big part of what we've done so I'm happy with the way he played."

On playing the Colts and Peyton Manning in the Superbowl: "He's a special player. We had a chance to watch some of his game today and then we turned it off. The four best teams played today, and the first half of that game, the little bit that we got to watch, we saw two AFC teams playing their hearts out. It's a credit to Indianapolis and Peyton (Manning). Its been a while since the number one seeds met and we are excited to be in this game and look forward to.''

Minnesota Vikings Coach Brad Childress

"I'm proud of the way our guys (played tonight). They fought themselves back into it. When you play a team of this stature and turn the ball over five times (it makes it hard). To be able to get it back to where we got it back to is a testament to these guys. I'm sorry that we weren't able to follow through. It's disappointing. I'm proud of our guys...I don't think anyone gave them a chance to come down here and be able to play that way.''

On his strategy on the last game series at the end of regulation: "It was all in line with the number of timeouts that they had left. We just had a fullback in there and we broke the huddle with 12 (men). You can't call back to back timeouts. We had just come out of a timeout.''

On turnovers: "We've had no three turnover games this year. So to have five against a good football team, it's very difficult to overcome. I thought our guys did a great job in this environment here. I don't think there was a false start penalty. I don't think there was a procedural penalty. I thought we took care of this setting here extremely well.''

Would he have gone for the field goal if there wasn't the penalty for 12 men in huddle: "I believe that we would have, yes.''

On Brett Favre: "I thought it was a gutty, gutty performance. I thought that he grinded it out. He found a bunch of different receivers....I just thought that he did a nice job of competing. He would be the first to tell you that he wishes he had a couple of those (throws) back."
On the crowd: "They tend to be pretty riled up here. You'll have to check the decibel meter to tell me if anything was more excessive than it usually is down here. It's a great environment."

On if he knows if Favre will return: "I don't know. I just talked to him. I'm sure that he's going to go home for a while. I told him to go home and lick your wounds. I'll do the same and we'll catch up down the road. Nobody wants to be rash about any decision making right now."

On Favre injury in the middle of the game: "I didn't speak to him. I spoke to the trainer. They taped it up pretty tightly. He wanted to go back in. At the time, I'm not sure if we had a turnover or a punt. He was going back in the game. That wasn't in question."

On what made the difference in the game: "You can spread it all the way around. It's hard to win games when you turn the ball over like that, particularly around the five yard line and the seven yard line when you think you're going to have a chance for a minimum of three points."

On if the season was a success: "I just prefer to look at all of the positives. It was a great season for our team and for the state of Minnesota to be able to look at a team like that compete. Among other things, but to look at No. 4 (Favre) compete in purple (was special). I just prefer to look at the positives."

New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson: "Not only the 70,000 that are here, but think of the 7 million around this world that are cheering."

Saints Coach Sean Payton: "This is for everybody in this city who's had homes who used to be wet. This is for the city of New Orleans.

"I'm so proud to be able to coach these players. There's no one else I'd rather hand this to than Drew Brees.''

Saints quarterback Drew Brees:"It's a moment that I've been waiting for a long time. We're going to enjoy this victory. How 'bout these fans?

"We just had to stay the course. We knew it was going to be a battle the whole way."

"It's a pretty surreal moment and words can't describe the feeling, because you think back to four years ago, coming here post-Katrina, Sean Payton's first year. I'll remember forever the first phone call with him telling me they wanted me to be their quarterback and I could never have imagined that things would work out the way they have. We had a goal and a dream back then to have this opportunity to go play for a Super Bowl championship - it feels great.

"It's unbelievable, I think you can draw so many parallels between our team and our city. In reality, we've had to lean on each other in order to survive and to get where we are right now. The city is on its way to recovery and in a lot of ways is better than ever. As a team we've used the strength and resiliency of our fans to go out and play every Sunday and play with the confidence to know that we can set out to achieve everything we've wanted to achieve.

"It's been one step at a time and it hasn't always been easy and we've had to fight through a lot of adversity, just like this city has.

When I look at what this year has meant thus far to this community, not only the regular season, but being able to host two playoff games, what it did for this economy and what it did for the spirit of this city and these people - it was special.

It's probably going to be nuts around here for a little bit, but that's to be expected. It was as loud as I've ever heard it in the dome."

Saints kicker Garrett Hartley: "I just knew when it came off my foot that it was going to split the pipes.

"Definitely, the season's been a roller-coaster ride, from the offseason until now.
"Here's the funny thing. Last night, I couldn't sleep too well. I called my dad (Bill) at 2:15 in the morning, and told him I had a feeling I was going to hit the game-winner from 42 yards on the right hash. I think I was two yards off.

"They kind of just leave me alone before the kick. (Anthony) Hargrove tried to come over before the kick, and I just said no, no, no.

"It was fate for this team to head to Miami to head to the Super Bowl this year. I'm just honored to be a part of it."

Vikings RB Adrian Peterson: "This was a real tough one. I felt they didn't win the game, but rather we lost it. You can't turn the ball over like that and expect to win.

"This is a great group of guys. We fought and fought and we have nothing to hang our heads about."

Vikings T Bryant McKinnie: "I didn't think the crowd noise was all that much of a factor. But you can't turn the ball over like we did tonight. But our guys fought hard and that's something you can be proud of.''

On Brett Favre: "You have to hand it to him that he fought hardest of all of us out there. He wanted to win real bad. I hope he comes back next year and leads us here again."

Vikings RB Chester Taylor: "You know, even with all of those turnovers and fumbles we still had a real good chance to win. We beat ourselves on offense. Everybody's feeling bad right now and it will hurt even more tomorrow. We feel like it just slipped through our hands."

Vikings DT Kevin Williams: "You have to hand it to them (Saints). They fought just as hard as we did and both teams left it all on the field. But they fought harder and they got the last punch in."

Vikings WR Bernard Berrian: "We kept battling back, even when we were down because we know what kind of offense we have. This season was a success. It's not the success we all wanted. But I have to tell you, this loss hurts; especially when we knew we should have won. It's hard to put the feeling I have right now into words. I felt we beat ourselves more than they (Saints) beat us.

"I didn't feel the ball was slick or anything. I really can't explain why the ball was on the ground out there a lot. They (Saints) just did a real good job of attacking the ball. ''

Vikings TE Visanthe Shiancoe: "We lost the game ourselves. It's as simple as that. With all of the fumbles and turnovers, you can't win a game like that by doing that. "

On interception and 12-men in the huddle situation: "I noticed the call but I didn't think we had 12 people in the huddle. Like I said we need to be more on point with stuff like that. We have to be a real more precise.

"Hey, we all fought out there. We played as a team and we left it all on the field. Because of a lot of things that happened, we are not going to the Super Bowl. The Saints are a great team. They played well and we played well. But they came up with the final play to win and take it from us."