One-on-One with Pierson Prioleau

Former Macedonia High School star Pierson Prioleau played 11 seasons in the NFL before finally getting to the Super Bowl last Sunday with the New Orleans Saints.

Prioleau, 32, talked about Super Bowl XLIV and the Saints' victory over the Indianapolis

Colts when he went One-on-One with The Post and Courier's Andrew Miller:

What's it like after more than a decade in the NFL to finally be a Super Bowl champion?

"It's a feeling you can't really put into words. I signed an autograph the other day and put my name on it and then followed that up with Super Bowl XLIV champion. That's a feeling that's hard to explain. It's something that will never be able to be taken away from me."

What was going through your mind before the opening kickoff?

"You have to be in the league for 11 years and been through what I've been through with all the different teams and different players to understand what that's like. To finally get to that point, the ultimate game, it's hard to describe. I started to reflect on my career in the league, in college and think back to my high school days at Macedonia. All that hard work had paid off. It was emotional. But at the same time you've got to play and you've got a job to do. But I took a minute to think about everyone who helped me along the way to get to that point."

Things did not look good for the Saints in the first quarter. You guys got down, 10-0, to Peyton Manning?

"Honestly, we didn't panic. We knew that Peyton Manning was going to put points on the board. We had moved the ball some, so I felt like we were still in the game. Was I concerned? Absolutely. But I knew if we kept to our game plan, our offense would eventually put points on the board. I felt like that the defense and special teams would eventually make a big play for us."

Was there a play or a series when you felt like you guys had turned the corner and had a real chance to win the Super Bowl?

"The drive at the end of the first half. That drive that stalled at the goal line. When we didn't make it on fourth down and then we held them on three straight plays and forced them to punt, I thought that was the beginning for us. Then we got that field goal at the end of the half and that was a really turning point. We had some momentum going into halftime. We had stopped them a couple of times already and the offense was starting to move the ball and put some points on the board."

What about the call to go for it on fourth down at the end of the first half? Were you surprised that (New Orleans coach) Sean Payton went for it?

"Not at all. He's an aggressive coach and that's in his DNA. We are an attacking offense, just like we're an attacking defense. We're in the Super Bowl. This is your one shot to win a championship. This opportunity may never come again. You don't want to have any regrets. You want to walk out of the stadium knowing you had done everything you could to win the game. It showed me and everyone on the team that Sean was 'all in.' "

When was the decision made for the onside kick to start the second half?

"The Super Bowl has a long halftime. It's like 30 minutes, which is double the length of a normal halftime. Sean walked into the locker room and after a couple of minutes said he was going to go with the onside kick. It was something we'd been working on all week, so we were prepared. I think most of us were a little shocked at first, but I thought it was a great call."

That could have backfired if you don't recover that ball?

"But again, you don't want to leave thinking you should have done something different. Sean felt comfortable with the way we were playing going into halftime to take a chance. It was a gutsy call and it wasn't even a traditional onside kick. (The Saints kicker) put some kind of backspin on it, so it was just great execution on the part of the special teams. We wanted the ball to start the second half."

And then Terry Porter makes the play of the game with that interception and TD return.

"Terry is just a second-year player and I knew that eventually the Colts would make a mistake. The question was were we going to be able to take advantage of that mistake when it occurred. And we found out the answer. The Colts' offense isn't that hard to figure out. The problem is that they just execute better than anyone else in the league. You might know the exact play they're going to run before the snap, but they still execute it. That's how good they are. Terry took a chance, jumped the route, and made the biggest play in Saints history."

As he's running down the field, you've got think that the Saints are going to be the world champions?

"There was still time left on the clock, and Peyton Manning has done some incredible things in the past. I didn't feel totally at ease until they didn't score right there at the end."

What's it like to look up at the clock as the final seconds are counting down and realizing that you're a Super Bowl champion?

"It was a like having an out-of-body experience. It's the biggest single game in all of sports. Period. There's not a bigger sporting event in the world. So to be world champions, to be the Super Bowl champions, was a feeling I'll never forget."

So Mardi Gras came a little early in New Orleans?

"The celebration parade was something that I've never experienced in my life. To be on a float for 5 1/2 hours with a million people in the streets lined up six, seven, eight people deep was incredible. I've only been here one year, but the bond between myself and the city of New Orleans is pretty strong already. So, for the guys that have been on the team for a while, and especially the guys who were on the team before Hurricane Katrina, I know that moment, to share it with the fans, was the greatest feeling in the world."

The Saints fans have a special bond with the players?

"Absolutely, it's a lot like a college town and a college team. That same feeling that South Carolina fans have for their Gamecocks and Clemson shares with their fans. And like at Virginia Tech. There's a passion there. I know winning the Super Bowl was a real silver lining for a city that's had a lot of dark clouds recently. I'm so thankful that I was able to win a Super Bowl in the city of New Orleans."

You've been in the NFL for 11 years. What's next?

"I signed a one-year deal. You don't get many multi-year deals when you're my age. I'm going to talk about it with my family. I feel like I've still got a lot of football left in me. I'm open to coming back to New Orleans as long as they're open to having me back. But I'm not going to think about it for a while. I'm just going to enjoy this moment for a couple of weeks."

So are you going to Disney World now?

"I should (laughing). I think I'm going to take my wife (Alicia) on a vacation. She deserves it. It's been a long year for her. She's been back in Virginia the whole season and we just had our third child three months ago, so she needs a break. I'm going to St. Thomas with the other guys in the secondary a little later on, but before I do that, I'm going take her someplace special. The bar is raised pretty high since I'm already going to St. Thomas, but it's going to be a special place."