Dwight Freeney will play on Sunday, maybe 15 plays on passing downs. The Saints have a lot of respect for Raheem Brock, his backup...Several Saints players were out until 3:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Reggie Bush said that was a one-night party. that's all...Former Saints linebacker Rickey Jackson's chances of getting voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame are rising. Don't get your hopes up, but there's good pro-Jackson talk going around the media. He's a finalist this year and hopes to be the first player from the Saints to be inducted. He said his career is deserving of enshrinement, but being passed over doesn't bother him as much as it once did. He has replaced resentment with religion. "I found Christ in my life and it just made everything different," said Jackson. He is one of only two former Saints with a jersey number hanging in the Superdome's Wall of Fame. The other is Archie Manning...Former Colts coach Tony Dungy predicts the Colts will win going away. That could some cork for the Saints' bulletin board, as if they needed it... 

Saints coach Sean Payton cut practice short by 20 minutes because he wants a "fresh" team on the field for Sunday's Super Bowl.

The players took off their pads for the last 40 minutes of the workout.

The Saints' defense, which produced seven turnovers in the two NFC playoff games, worked on drills in which the players busted through two tackling dummies and then cut around a third before scooping up the football.

Reserve running back and special teams regular Lynell Hamilton (ankle) did some light jogging and Payton said hopefully he'll be able to play.

The team will relax until the game.

Ed Staton's Prediction: Saints 32, Colts 28. (predicted the exact score in Super Bowl last year). 

Saints defensive end Bobby McCray said he's not a dirty player, but a little mean and aggressive.

He was fined $20,000 for hitting Brett Favre during the NFC championship game and was arrested for DUI late in the regular season.  He is a pass rusher and likes to hit quarterbacks. That's why the Saints signed him in March 2008 with a five-year contract with a $5 million guaranteed money.

Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams denied that the Saints played dirty when going after quarterbacks. Specifically, Williams addressed the play McCray wound up hitting Favre below the waist.

"I actually watched that play this morning (Thursday) on Favre," the coach told the Super Bowl media. "And when you take a look at that, and slow that play down, you can see Bobby coming the block...and actually the offensive tackle grabbing him, and trying to catch him and he's stumbling as he's going down."


Williams said that it was not McCray's intent to hit Favre low, and that he's not going to stop his guys from going all-out against quarterbacks.

"I'm not going to slow him down on that. He's not trying to do that (play dirty) "said Williams. "We coach aggressive, we coach with a lot of effort, we coach that we want to have the most contact we can. About taking shots? Nah, we're not going to that, we're never going to do that, but I'm not going to slow them down."

Has the last month been tough for McCray? "Not at all," he said. "The toughest stretches I ever went through was in the past when we lost a couple of games we should have won. As of right now, I have put all of those things behind me and gotten the positives out of it. We're winning and we're in the biggest game of our career

"It's the Super Bowl. There is really nothing that can overcome that. I'm on a positive side right now and to come out with a win will be even better."

McCray has been playing with an aching back this season. "I got it the second week of the season and haven't really been able to overcome it," said McCray. "I've been fighting though it every game. It's my lower back. This probably is my first season that I haven't really been healthy. Other than that, I probably jammed a wrist and taped it and we were good to go."

Defensive ends are judged by their sack totals and McCray's figures this season are way low. "That's pretty annoying," said McCray. "This is by far is the worst season I've had number-wise, but I have to look at it on the bright side. I have gotten a lot of hits on the quarterback. Not to mention the reps are down this season because I have been a little nicked up. It's been a little down year, but at the same time it went to a little high point at the end of the season, especially with the playoffs. At the same time that little nagging injury is still there."

How did the Saints go from an 8-8 season last season to the Super Bowl?

“Two things happened ," said McCray. "We brought in Gregg Williams, who is a highly talented defensive coordinator and then we had a lot of key additions to the defense. The offense was there. They were solid. We just had to get some better players on defense.

"We brought in safety Darren Sharper. Linebacker Jonathan Vilma and I were additions last year. We got cornerback Jabar Greer off of free agency, too. There have been a lot of young guys that have stepped up like defensive tackle Remi  Ayodele when Kendrick Clancy went down. There are a lot of additions that stepped up this year and that made the formula perfect for this year."

Can McCray be a 10-sacks a year guy again? "I can always be that guy," said McCray.

Will his sack total improve when he recovers from the back injury?
"Yes. Once I get back healthy I will be the same as I probably used to be. It's been a down year for me.

"I look at the upside. We're in the Super Bowl. I'm going to go all out and play hard like I've been doing the last couple of weeks in the playoff games and end the year with a bang. I'll be okay with that, not even worry about the numbers.

"I might have a Super Bowl ring. I'm not worried about the numbers. I helped my team get a ring."

SOME HITHER, OTHERS YON: Eli Manning is pulling for the Colts and predicts a 31-24 victory for brother Peyton's team. "I've been cheering for the Colts and Peyton for the last 12 years, it goes back to high school and when he first went to the Colts." aid the Giants quarterback. "I've been in the NFL six years myself and played against the Saints a few times. You kind of quickly lose your home-town loyalty. I keep up with the Saints a little bit."....The strippers at Rick's Cabaret in NYC are picking the Saints because the are partial to Jeremy Shockey, a regular on the strip club scene when he was with the Giants...This Super Bowl will have a record two Pierres in the game: the Saints' Pierre Thomas and the Colts' Pierre Garcon, who is a Haitian...Saints win Super Bowl 27-25. WhatifSports.com determined that result based on 10,001 computer situations that found New Orleans winning 62.2 per cent of the time...

Papa John's estimates 350 slices of pizza per second will be eaten during the Super Bowl...The NFL says there are 4,500 journalists from 22 countries at this year's Super Bowl. That's about many that were ahead of me in the prime-rib line at the last media party I worked at the Super Bowl...Good news, Who Dat Nation. Veterinary Pet Insurance Co. reports that, based on a databank search of its 475,000 pets, Saints-inspired names lead Colts-related names, 230-227. Indy is the clear winner among individuals, with 106 animals named wither Peyton, Manning or Peyton Manning. "Peyton Manning what did you do!  "Bad dog. Bad dog."...

Whimsical exploration of the etymology of Saints' "Who Dat" catch phrase, perhaps segueing to a contrast of Super Bowl cities: funky, soulful, colorful New Orleans vs. white bread Indianapolis the nation's No. 1 producers of bland. Not a lot of people know it, but folk from Indy apparently have their own version of

“Who Dat." it is "Pardon Me, How's That Again?"...Progress is being made in sports and society by the fact that none of the stories coming out of the Super Bowl have mentioned the fact that Colts coach Jim Caldwell is black... 

Super Bowl predictions:

Charles Barkley: Saints 31, Colts 28."It would be a great win for the city of New Orleans."

Dick Vitale: Colts 27, Saints 21/ "Peyton Manning  & Co, will find a way to win. This should be another exciting Super Bowl."

Michael Strahan: "I'm picking the Colts because I want the Saints to win. On the Fox show this season whomever I picked I lost. So I'm picking the Colts because I want the Saints to win."

Jimmy Kimmel: Colts 31, Saints 21. "I know New Orleans is the sentimental favorite, but I still think there are people in Indianapolis who are worse off."

Drew Carey: Colts 24, Saints 20. "Flip a coin. Against the spread, I'm going with the Saints."

Valarie Bertinelli: "Saints 24, Colts 21. "With those two quarterbacks there has to be some scoring because they are both brilliant. The Saints have a deep offense and their defense is so good they will hold the Colts back. It will be a great game no matter what and especially when the Saints win."