Drew Brees stood holding his one-year-old son Baylen. The bright blue of their matching eyes made their relation unquestionable. One pair of eyes looked around inquisitively, darting from left to right, curious about the party unfolding around him. The other set of eyes began to well with tears. A father proud of the magnitude of the accomplishment and glad his first son was there with him.

The party emanating from Miami was so loud Brees was forced to put ear muffs on his sons ears. Or maybe it was the noise from Bourbon Street, which if you stood quiet enough you could hear the party raging on.

The irony of Brees holding up the Lombardi Trophy and being named the MVP of Super Bowl XLIV is lost on no one.

He wasn’t highly recruited going to Purdue. While in college he shredded defenses that constantly wondered how they were beat by a short white kid at an engineering college.

He had the numbers to be a high first round draft pick. Instead he went with the first pick of the second round to San Diego, who had already passed on him once.

He wasn’t supposed to be a starting quarterback. But some men just don’t know the meaning of failure. Brees won his starting spot, and began the journey of a San Diego team out of the basement of the league and into the consist team they are today.

But Brees wasn’t what every team wanted in their quarterback. The prototypical quarterback stands 6-foot-3 or 4 and has a gun slinging arm. Brees’ height fell well below that standard and he was more an accurate passer than big armed.

After two semi-successful season with Brees, the Chargers drafted Eli Manning to take his place. After Manning’s infamous tantrum he was traded for N.C. State’s odd-angle tossing quarterback Phillip Rivers.

After two more years Brees was cut loose in favor of the younger Rivers, an obvious example of the business side of the game.

As the cliche goes, when God closes one door, he opens another, and Brees found his way to New Orleans.

It was a match made in heaven. The unwanted castoff quarterback and the unwanted left for nothing city. Both with much to prove, and both with the offerings to prove it.

The city had just suffered one of the biggest natural disaster tradgedies in the history of the country. Brees moved their without understanding the strength of the community.

He quickly learned their lessons. It molded him into the quarterback who truly knows what its like to be hit and pop back up. For if the men and women around him could do it with their lives , surely he could do it during a game.

And so the circular inspiration began. He fed off the crowd and they began to believe that things were looking up.

After years of toiling at the bottom of the NFL barrel, Who Dat nation was alive, thanks to a man who was too short, too slow, too weak-armed.

Not once four years did Brees throw for less than 4,300 yards, he was the model of consistency. The model that in a world of chaos can calm a population, at least for a few hours on Sunday.

And there he was in Super Bowl XLIV, his team down 10-0 early in the game. But when you’ve faced more than point deficets in your life, a 10-point hole doesn’t seem so large.

So he picked apart the Colts’ defense. A 12 yard gain here, an 8-yard dump-off here. And when his coach decided to kick an onside kick to start the second half, Brees made sure it didn’t go wasted. He led his team to a game-changing touchdown.

Dueling a maestro, who might go down as the greatest quarterback ever, Brees thrust and parried better than any before.

I see your touchdown and raise you one.

And as the end drew near it was Brees who sat calmly in the pocket delivering strikes as his offense martched for the go ahead score. The he watched as the master threw and pick-six that all but sealed the game.

On a night where Brees provided inspiration to anyone who was ever told they won’t be good enough to succeed he held up the “Precious,” the one trophy more coveted than any other.

And more important, the proud father got to share that moment with his bright eyed son.

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