New Orleans are bowled over after rising from tragedy
There were emotional scenes as New Orleans Saints reached their first Super Bowl with a 31-28 overtime victory over Minnesota Vikings.
A field goal from kicker Garrett Hartley sealed a clash against Indianapolis Colts in Miami on 7 February.
Coming less than five years after New Orleans was devastated by Hurricane Katrina and in a stadium which, in those days of misery, housed the homeless, the significance of the triumph went beyond the boundaries of sport.
"It's unbelievable," said quarter-back Drew Brees (right). "You can draw so many parallels between our team and our city but in reality we kind of leaned on each other in order to survive and in order to get to where we are now.
"The city is on its way to recovery and in a lot of ways it's back better than ever. For us as a team, we use the strength and resilience of our fans."
It was a miserable night for Vikings' Brett Favre, who was bidding to become the oldest quarter-back in a Super Bowl.
With 19 seconds left, 40-year-old Favre threw a pass towards Sidney Rice but it was snaffled up by Tracy Porter to effectively put the game into overtime.
"I probably should have ran it," he said. "I don't know how far I could have gotten but in hindsight that is probably what I should have done."
Colts quarter-back Peyton Manning threw three touchdown passes as Indianapolis fought back from 17-6 down to beat New York Jets 30-17. Manning said: "We knew it'd be a four-quarter game and didn't panic."
