Ten Super Bowls down, and after the show that was put on tonight not only by the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts but by The Who at halftime and by "The Who Dat Nation" throughout the day, South Florida just generated some serious momentum for the 2014 Super Bowl bid.

On the field the top two teams in the National Football League delivered a riveting game that had the packed crowd of 74,059 and the millions watching on television at home on the edge of their seats until the very end. When it was over and the Saints were delirious over bringing the first championship back to the city of New Orleans, the screams from Bourbon Street could be heard all the way down on South Beach, forever linking the Big Easy with the city of Miami.

"I think Miami is going to become my third home because New Orleans is my second home," said Saints nose tackle, younger brother of Miami Dolphins linebacker Akin Ayodele. "I mean it's going to feel weird coming out here at first but I know it's going to hold a special place in my heart."

Backup defensive tackle Anthony Hargrove looked emotionally drained in the winning locker room long after the game ended as he tried to put into perspective where exactly this moment belongs in his personal journey back from a drug addiction that cost him all of the 2008 season. He was suspended for a year for violating the league's substance abuse policy and spent 10 months of his 13-month rehab right here in Miami at the rehab center called Transitions.

Hargrove grew up across Alligator Alley in Port Charlotte so playing in a Super Bowl so close to his hometown would have been special anyway without the ties to Miami. But Transitions is where he began his road to recovery and to be able to feel the confetti rain down from the skies over Sun Life Stadium as the Saints were crowned as champions, knowing so many important people in his life were there to share in the moment, left him speechless.

"This is just one of the steps, I have not completed the journey," a humble Hargrove said. "God opened a new door for me and I decided to pick his door instead of my own. I couldn't ask for anything more. This organization gave me a chance and my whole thing was just not to let them down and do whatever was asked of me. It's crazy you know."

On the other side of the locker room from Hargrove and Ayodele stood backup quarterback and field goal holder Mark Brunell, who waited 17 years to experience winning a Super Bowl. The 39-year-old veteran spent more than half his career in the Sunshine State as quarterback of the Jacksonville Jaguars and led them to two AFC Championship games, falling short of reaching the Super Bowl both times.

Now his most important job is making sure to handle the long snaps on field goals and get the ball down for 23-year-old kicker Garrett Hartley, and he did that job flawlessly tonight as Hartley was 3-for-3, with all of his kicks coming from beyond 40 yards (46, 44 and 47). To be able to celebrate the pinnacle of his sport in Florida was not at all lost on Brunell as the Vince Lombardi Trophy made its rounds through the locker room.

"It means a lot. To do this in Florida just down the street from Jacksonville, and I had a lot of family and friends here, it's a dream come true," Brunell said. "If they had to write the script this is how it would play out for this season and I think everyone in this locker room would tell you the same thing."

Perhaps the two players on New Orleans with the strongest ties to South Florida were tight end Jeremy Shockey and linebacker Jonathan Vilma. Both played at the University of Miami, which is where the Saints practiced all week, and Vilma grew up in Coral Gables so this was truly a homecoming for him. All week long he kind of downplayed the angle and tried to stay focused on the Colts, but moments after walking off the field at the stadium he used to drive by every day as a high school kid, he finally relented.

"This was a tremendous feeling for me," said Vilma, who led the team in tackles with seven, all solo, and two for a loss. "I couldn't have written he script any better. To be selected to the Pro Bowl in Miami and not playing in it because I'm in the Super Bowl in Miami and to come out here and win, this is great. This is what I dreamt about."

The final word of the night, as it should be, went to a diehard Saints fan that had been waiting a long time to be able to celebrate. Tom Spry, who lives in California, made the trip all the way across the country to try and see if he could bring some good luck to his beloved team.

"I've been a Saints fan since 1988 and my neighbors back home are all from New Orleans and they're all Creole," said Spry, who was wearing traditional Mardi Gras beads given to him by his neighbors and a Saints ballcap. "It's been 43 years. Can you believe it? You have to root for the underdog and the Saints all season long have done what the Colts have been doing all season long and it was basically who had the ball last or who made the fewer mistakes. We were just dying when Tracy Porter ran that interception back in our direction. People sitting in front of us from New Orleans were crying when he crossed the goal line, it was that emotional."

And this sea of emotions from the players and the fans flooded the streets of South Florida in memorable fashion – the type of memories that beg for a Super return to the area.

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