Brees, Saints line garner NFL awards
QB wins FedEx NFL Air Player of Year; OL honored
INDIANAPOLIS — Befitting a unit that shattered a pair of longstanding NFL offensive records during the 2011 season, the New Orleans Saints picked up two major awards Wednesday in conjunction with Super Bowl XLVI activities.
Quarterback Drew Brees was named the FedEx NFL Air Player of the Year for the fourth time in six seasons with the club and the Saints’ offensive line took home the Madden Protectors Award presented by Prilosec OTC for the best overall line play for the second time in three years.
Behind Brees’ 5,476 passing yards, which broke the 27-year-old single-season record of 5,084 yards by Dan Marino, the Saints set the league mark for total yards in a season with 7,474 — which topped the old mark of 7,075 yards set by the St. Louis Rams in 2000.
Brees won his award in an online vote of fans over Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, the 2010 winner, and New England’s Tom Brady. Brees, the only quarterback to win at least three times in the nine-year history of the award, also took the honor in 2006, ’08 and ’09.
Brees wasn’t on hand for the presentation because he won’t arrive in Indianapolis until Thursday, but he accepted the award, which was voted on by more than 1 millions fans, via taped video.
“It’s truly an honor to be named the FedEx NFL Air Player of the Year,” said Brees, whose award was accompanied by a $25,000 donation to Junior Achievement of New Orleans. “It’s also an honor to have $25,000 donated by FedEx in my name to Junior Achievement, which helps young people start and grow a small business.”
The Saints’ starting offensive line of tackles Jermon Bushrod and Zach Strief, center Brian de la Puente, and guards Carl Nicks and Jahri Evans were on hand to accept their trophy, which weighs in at 102 pounds and is sculpted in the shape of five linemen taking their stance.
More than 350,000 fans voted online for the Madden Protectors Award, which the Saints won over four other finalists — the Houston Texans, New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers and Denver Broncos.
“It’s a position that doesn’t get recognized enough,” said Pro Football Hall of Fame coach John Madden, the namesake of the award and a longtime fan of offensive line play. “If these guys don’t do what they did, the great things we see wouldn’t happen.”
The Saints also claimed the inaugural Madden Award in 2009 when they won Super Bowl XLIV.
“As everyone knows, this is a position and a job that doesn’t get a lot of attention,” Strief said. “But we kind of like it that way.If we can’t play in this game this week (Super Bowl XLVI), this is a nice consolation award. But, it really is an offensive team award.”
In addition to setting an NFL record for total yards, the Saints led the league in passing yards (5,347) and were sixth in rushing (2,127) and second in fewest sacks allowed (24). They were also second in scoring with 547 points.
The FedEx NFL Ground Player of the Year Award, which was announced in conjunction with the Air award, went to Philadelphia’s LeSean McCoy. He won over Jacksonville’s Maurice Jones-Drew and Baltimore’s Ray Rice.