Remembering Super Bowl XLIV

The big picture: New Orleans Saints fans had waited a long time to get to the Super Bowl, and the roster the team had then felt fated, especially in the early years after Hurricane Katrina.

• But New Orleans made it to the big game in 2010, which remains its only appearance there.

Zoom in: To win the Super Bowl, the Saints played against the Indianapolis Colts, who were led at the time by New Orleans' own quarterback Peyton Manning.

• A late interception thrown by Manning helped his hometown team walk away with a win.
• But Saints quarterback Drew Brees will always be an adopted son for the city, too.

What he's saying: When "Feb. 7 rolls around ... I look at our kids, and I'm like, man, time is flying by," he tells Axios New Orleans. "I remember holding up Baylen when he was 1 year old, and now he just turned 16."

• That time, he says, feels sacred.
• "That whole journey of how we were all brought to New Orleans back in '06 and just building the foundation by which we were going to create a championship caliber team, and in the connection we had with our city and our fan base — the Who Dat Nation, the greatest fans in the world — [it] always bring back some pretty awesome memories."

What's next: The Historic New Orleans Collection has on view this weekend the 2009 George S. Halas NFC Championship trophy, the Super Bowl XLIV Vince Lombardi trophy and Tom Benson's Super Bowl ring. Details.