Peter King MMQ - the new rule, Brett, and a bit about Loomis.
 

MINNEAPOLIS -- Odd, sort of, to be reviewing the most important week of the preseason and writing mainly about the impact of an officiating decision. But the most intriguing event of the third round of games has to do with officiating, and the effect of moving the umpire from the defensive to the offensive side of the ball so he won't be such a defenseless target in the middle of pass patterns.
I don't want to be too dramatic about it, but it's a virtual certainty that the rule will have far more impact on the Colts than on any other team in football. They won't be able to run their no-huddle offense with the same speed. And the triggerman knows it.
Peyton Manning thinks back to the Patriots-Colts game last November -- the Belichick No-Punt Game -- and is sure that game would have ended differently if the new ump rule was in place.
"If we had this rule last year,'' Manning said Saturday night, "there's no way we catch up in that New England game. We were down, what, 21 points in the fourth quarter? We wouldn't have had enough time to run enough plays to catch up. But forget about that game. Let's chart all the comeback wins where a team runs the hurry-up in the fourth quarter. How many of those games would have ended up the same way -- or would the quarterbacks have had enough time to run enough plays to come back and win?''


Brett Favre: He's already taking injections in his wounded ankle.
After his so-so eight series Saturday night on the hard floor of Mall of America Field (I prefer to call it the Metrodome, because that's what we know it to be), Favre went into the trainers' room in the Vikes' locker room and got an injection of lubricant in the left ankle that has three times been operated on to remove loose bodies. "Like a grease fitting,'' he said.


Katrina at Age 5: Maybe Mickey Loomis should be executive of the decade.
I'm exaggerating a bit there. The Saints certainly weren't the dominant force of Indianapolis or New England in the past 10 years. Not even close. But if the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Yankees in the World Series next year, wouldn't you give them three times the credit of any other team for winning such a series?
On the five-year anniversary of Katrina, I reminisced about something I really think helped revitalize such an important city. I was in New Orleans for the first draft after the hurricane, in April 2006, and I interviewed mayor Ray Nagin about the meaning of the Saints to the city. In almost a pleading voice, he said if the Saints could just give the beleaguered city one year, or maybe two, just a little time to get back on its feet, that would be a godsend. That's how sure everyone in the city was that the Saints were leaving. Now, exactly five years after Katrina, the Saints are not leaving New Orleans. They've signed a lucrative extension to stay through 2025. Fans fly in from around the country to see home games. The team is a happening.
I hope, in the eyes of the city and country, people realize why. So much of it occurred as a direct result of the significant home runs Loomis hit. At the end of the 2005 season, Loomis and the front office, orphans because of Katrina, were working in the Sewage and Water Building in San Antonio. They'd been evicted from the Alamodome, and the team was practicing in a parking lot for the last two weeks of the season because of a Home and Garden show and then a state volleyball tournament in the Dome. I remember going there. What a circus. When the season ended, in an office regulating underwater pipes in San Antonio, Loomis plotted the future of the football team. In the next four months, here's what he did:
• Jan. 2, 2006: Loomis, given the leeway to do so by owner Tom Benson, fires head coach Jim Haslett.
• Jan. 18, 2006: Loomis, given by the same leeway by Benson, hires Sean Payton as head coach.
• March 14, 2006: Loomis signs quarterback Drew Brees to a six-year, $60 million deal.
• April 29, 2006: Loomis drafts USC running back Reggie Bush in the first round, all-pro guard Jahri Evans in the fourth, and Pro Bowl wide receiver Marques Colston in the seventh.
I have a particular affection for New Orleans, having worked for Habitat for Humanity a couple of times there over the years and loving every trip I've ever taken there. A lot of people have contributed to the recovery of the city, and the Saints have been vital. I am in no way attempting to ascribe too much importance to sports. But whatever the Saints have accomplished, Loomis is at the core.

Much more here ...
Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts worry new NFL*rule will slow down hurry-up offense - Peter King - SI.com

Great article. It's so amazing how much New Orleans, the city and the organization, has changed in five years.

What some may missed unless you read Payton's book. Is how Loomis made everyone of the staff move to New Orleans. Payton was going to commute from Dallas where his family was going to stay and fly in to New Orleans and coach. Loomis said "You are either all in or all out". So they not only became part of the team but part of the community. Winning isn't just a football thing but know they win for THEIR community they live in now.

Loomis Is the brains of the operation.

• Jan. 2, 2006: Loomis, given the leeway to do so by owner Tom Benson, fires head coach Jim Haslett.
• Jan. 18, 2006: Loomis, given by the same leeway by Benson, hires Sean Payton as head coach.
• March 14, 2006: Loomis signs quarterback Drew Brees to a six-year, $60 million deal.
• April 29, 2006: Loomis drafts USC running back Reggie Bush in the first round, all-pro guard Jahri Evans in the fourth, and Pro Bowl wide receiver Marques Colston in the seventh.
I have a particular affection for New Orleans, having worked for Habitat for Humanity a couple of times there over the years and loving every trip I've ever taken there. A lot of people have contributed to the recovery of the city, and the Saints have been vital. I am in no way attempting to ascribe too much importance to sports. But whatever the Saints have accomplished, Loomis is at the core.