Saints' Payton seems to know his place (1 Viewer)

[Dan in Lafayette]

Gordon Jones / The Morning Call

PHILADELPHIA - He was recently named coach of the year, having driven a most unusual NFL team to success at a most unusual time in its history.

Sean Payton feels "somewhat awkward" about the award, he said on a conference call Tuesday, for the usual reasons that a head coach feels that way: So many others have contributed so much to the New Orleans Saints' big season. He has done his part, sure, but there's only so much he can do, only so much he can be expected to do.

The award is richly deserved nonetheless. He has rebuilt and redirected a woebegone franchise, which in turn has given the Katrina-ravaged Gulf Coast region a welcome diversion.

While doing so he has been respectful of the plight of so many in the area, and appreciative of their outsized support. But he has not made the mistake of reducing their suffering to a let's-do-it-for-the-hurricane-victims motivational ploy. Full Story – Mercury Newshttp://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/16430797.htm