What if I told you that there was one NFL game that meant more to the Louisiana sports history than most others? Could you guess which game that was?
How about Super Bowl XLI.
Saturday night the Louisiana Sports Hall of fame in Natchitoches inducted a pair of Colts from that game, Lafayette’s own Brandon Stokley, and New Orleans native Reggie Wayne. The two spent 4-years together in Indianapolis and were on that Super Bowl winning team.
But the connections to that game dig deeper for the state as a whole. The Colts also had LSU products Anthony "Booger" McFarland (Winnsboro, LA) and Joseph Addai (Houston, TX) while the Bears featured Charles "Peanut" Tillman, the legendary University of Louisiana defensive back. We can’t forget that the Super Bowl MVP that night was Peyton Manning (New Orleans) another connection to the Pelican State.
While Stokley and Wayne are the first in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame from that historic night in south Florida, it’s hard to imagine they are the last.
"I know i remind people all of the time about the state of Louisiana and all the athletes we have coming in and out," said Wayne. "This is one way I can show them that the state of Louisiana has some tough cookies. just to have as many people from the state here. and we try to represent them the right way and this is one night to start with is."