New Orleans Loves Its Mannings, Colts or Not

When the New Orleans Saints go marching into their first Super Bowl on Sunday, the man standing between them and the Lombardi Trophy is none other than hometown-boy-made-good Peyton Manning. Since the Saints drafted dad Archie in 1971, the Mannings have been the first family of the Big Easy—from running football camps to charity work following Katrina.

But though the Mannings-New Orleans ties run deep, "I can't cheer against my own son," Archie says. But no matter the outcome, New Orleanians see the big game as a win-win scenario. “As the season unfolded and you saw the success that the Saints and the Colts were having,” the City Council president tells the New York Times, “you kind of hoped that this would be the ultimate matchup.” (More Peyton Manning stories.)