Super Bowl 2010 MVP Taken by Drew Brees

The Super Bowl 2010 MVP was fairly easy to guess. But the ultimate Super Bowl 2010 MVP wasn't the most that most guessed before the game, and before the second quarter. Most everyone projected Peyton Manning to win the award for the second time, especially after the first quarter. Manning was his usual self in leading the Colts to a 10-0 lead and looked like he could sleepwalk to the honor. Yet the Super Bowl 2010 MVP win went to the other quarterback, as Drew Brees stepped out of a few shadows.

Though Brees was the second biggest name in the game, he was far eclipsed by Manning's pregame buzz. Most pundits were ready to move Manning up among the best ever, but they had to play the game first. But Drew Brees didn't start off well, just like most of the Saints.

Yet the Super Bowl 2010 MVP went to Brees, mostly for the final three quarters. His ultimate 32-for-39, 288 yards and two touchdowns stats are impressive on their own. But in the last three quarters alone, he was 29-for-32, approaching Phil Simms type levels.

Brees had the second highest completion percentage in Super Bowl history, finishing a year where he completed a record-setting 70% of passes. For once, even Peyton Manning was left in the dust - especially since it wasn't Brees who made the game-changing error.

The Super Bowl 2010 MVP race was always going to be between Brees and Manning, and it was. If Manning hadn't throw his costly fourth quarter interception, and helped the Colts tie the game instead, their duel might have been one for the ages. Instead, Brees was the undisputed winner, reminding fans that there are other quarterbacks besides Manning, Brett Favre and Tom Brady.

Winning the Super Bowl 2010 MVP is Brees' ultimate validation, after all of his difficulties. He couldn't win the big one in San Diego - though no one seems able to do that there - and he had to go so Philip Rivers could take over. Heading to the hapless Saints, who looked even more lost right after Hurricane Katrina, looked like a death blow to his career.

Instead, Brees is a folk hero four years later - an honor he already earned in New Orleans even before last night. He and Sean Peyton already revived New Orleans football, and a part of the battered city's spirit. Now thanks to Brees' deadly accuracy and Peyton's huge play calls, the franchise reached undreamed of heights.

The defining images last night weren't from Manning, but from Drew Brees - especially when cameras caught him afterward with his young, earmuff wearing son. Now the Super Bowl 2010 MVP takes his place among the Mannings and Bradys of the NFL, and even did them one better with his record-setting performance.

Sources

American Chronicle- "Sharp Brees gives Saints biggest win"

Gather.com- "Super Bowl 2010 MVP & Drew Brees' Son"