Saintswrath

By Jeff Duncan, The Times-Picayune - FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. - Dan Green has sold more than 100,000 copies of his motivational book "Finish Strong." Green thought it was a cool idea when New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees ordered copies of "Finish Strong" for all of his teammates.

Brees distributed the 116-page book, which features inspirational anecdotes about people overcoming adversity in their lives, along with silicone rubber bracelets bearing the message "Finish Strong" to the team on the first day of the offseason conditioning program in April.

At the time, it seemed like a cute little motivational ploy, like Coach Sean Payton's "don't-eat-the-cheese" mousetraps or "bring-the-wood" baseball bats.

Certainly, no one foresaw it as the rallying cry for the Saints in their historic season.

These days, Finish Strong is everywhere in New Orleans.
It's emblazoned on the back of T-shirts and printed on signs at the Superdome.

It's on the cover of books in the lockers of Saints players and is chanted by fans in the fourth quarter.

Down the stretch of New Orleans' 31-28 overtime victory against the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC championship game Jan. 24 at the Superdome, the rolling chant from fans seemed to lift the Saints in the fourth quarter. On the brink of elimination, they fought back in the final minute of regulation and went on to prevail.

Finish Strong was an appropriate battle cry for the Saints.

New Orleans lost five games by three points or fewer in 2008. Time after frustrating time, its defense imploded in the fourth quarter.

This season, the Saints have experienced a jaw-dropping reversal of fortune. They outscored opponents by a whopping 139-48 in the fourth quarter of the regular season and outpaced them 27-14 in the second half and overtime in two postseason games.

"It's so humbling, " Green said Monday from his office in Naperville, Ill. "I don't take any credit for what the Saints have done. I was just there to offer a platform. What you do with it is up to you, and obviously they took it and did something pretty amazing with it."

I know what you're thinking. This whole thing seems a little hokey. After all, what does a book or bracelet have to do with blocking or tackling.
But the Saints players insist Brees' gesture worked.

"It's a visual way to convey the message and importance of finishing everything that you do, " tackle Zach Strief said. "It's easy to tell somebody to do one more rep (in the weight room) or watch five more minutes of video. It's a lot harder to visualize what the effect of that will be."

Strief said it's also just another example of Brees' extraordinary leadership skills. Other players preach the same gospel to their teammates, but Brees takes motivation to another level.

In addition to the Finish Strong stuff, he also....... (Read the rest here: Drew Brees uses motivational book as New Orleans Saints' rallying cry | - NOLA.com )