Peyton Manning not only is responsible for losing the Super Bowl, he apparently contributed to the death of sportsmanship after the Super Bowl.

His crime: Not shaking hands with the winner.

According to the overnight TV ratings, there were 106.5 million witnesses. The worry is that millions of impressionable kids might start emulating Manning.

Please allow me to calm your fears. There are a lot of things to criticize about Manning's performance. Not shaking hands with Drew Brees isn't one of them.

"Peyton is a class guy," Brees said.

If he doesn't have a problem with Manning's quick exit, why should we?

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As opposed to almost every other week this year, this is going to be pretty easy. Sunday night's game between the Colts and the Saints was very well officiated. I was most pleased with the fact that the crew let the teams play, as there were only eight assessed penalties for 64 yards.

There are a few plays we'll examine, starting with the one controversial call -- the Saints' two-point conversion to go up 24-17.

On the play, Lance Moore appeared to bobble the football while going to the ground and then completely lose control once he hit. The initial ruling on the field was an incomplete pass. As we have seen all season -- since Louis Murphy's non-catch in Week 1 -- a receiver must control the ball through the ground when he's falling to the ground as he makes a catch. Thus, it would appear the incomplete call was the correct one. Instead, the call was overturned. Why?

Sunday evening's Super Bowl between the Colts and Saints -- which the Saints won 31-17 -- has been declared the most watched TV program of all-time. The overnight rating, according to the Los Angeles Times, was a whopping 46.4, which is the largest overnight figure since the Giants and Broncos played Super Bowl XXI all the way back in 1987. Last season's game between the Steelers and Cardinals scored an overnight rating of 42.1, but once the final numbers were released it was revealed to be the most watched game in history -- with 98.7 million viewers.

Now that the final count is in, however, we've learned that Super Bowl XLIV was much more than simply the highest rated Super Bowl. The series finale of M*A*S*H, long-standing record-holder of the most watched program in TV history, drew 105.97 million viewers. The Nielsen ratings have revealed that Sunday's Super Bowl drew 106.5 million viewers.

As is this isn't insane enough, CBS has released a statement with more details on the event. In the final 15 minutes of the game, the rating score was 50.6, meaning that more than half of the households in the entire country were tuned in. This number also had a 71 share for the audience. Translation: an incredible 71 percent of the televisions in the entire nation were set to the Super Bowl.

New Orleans topped the list in terms of ratings, with an estimated 82 percent of TVs on the game. Washington, Nashville, Indianapolis and Columbus followed.

The feat is much more impressive when you consider all the alternatives. Back in the 1980s, it was pretty easy for major sporting events to garner gargantuan ratings, but nowadays there are literally hundreds of other channels from which viewers can choose -- not to mention the options the Internet provides. The fact that there are so many people watching one game in 2010 shows the NFL is truly a monster company.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- With confetti and congratulations pouring down on him after Sunday's 31-17 Super Bowl XLIV ambush of the favored Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton – a guy who likes to celebrate -- said he wasn't sure he would make it to the traditional Monday morning winners' news conference.

He showed up, hair uncombed, bleary eyed, looking every bit like someone who had just spent a sleepless night. Except that Payton did get some shut-eye, with some interesting company at his side.

Holding the Lombardi Trophy in his hands as he faced the cameras one last time before heading back to the Crescent City for what promises to be an epic "Who Dat" victory parade, Payton doesn't sound like a guy who's eager to let it go anytime soon.

"This thing laid in my bed next to me last night," Payton said, holding the NFL's championship hardware like it was a much-loved teddy bear. "I rolled over a couple of times. I probably drooled on it. But man, there's nothing like it."

The sterling silver Lombardi Trophy has a special connection to the Saints' organization. It is named for Vince Lombardi, the legendary Green Bay Packers coach. And Lombardi's grandson, Joe, is the Saints quarterback coach.

MIAMI -- The great ones thrive in this situation. Everything has gone against you for the longest time. The whole world is watching. Your opponents have admitted often that they are scared to death of your skills. You're trailing by a touchdown within the final six minutes of the Super Bowl, and you're driving, driving, driving.

You're Peyton Manning, seeking to prove without a doubt that you're more than just a bunch of pretty numbers on your NFL resume.

Oh, well.

He'll never live this down.

While this otherwise extraordinary quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts will reach the Pro Football Hall of Fame someday, he just moved closer to the city limits of the Chokers Hall of Fame.

I mean, you're Peyton Manning, and you're so close Sunday against the New Orleans Saints to becoming Joe Montana, a truly great one, who produced magic 21 years ago down the stretch of a Super Bowl on this same field. Near the end of that one, Montana hit John Taylor in the end zone to push the San Francisco 49ers past the Cincinnati Bengals.

MIAMI -- There's something about a Super Bowl stage that brings out the best in Indianapolis Colts running back Joseph Addai. He easily could have been the MVP of Super Bowl XLI three seasons ago at this same South Florida stadium, when the then-rookie gained 143 total yards in a victory over the Chicago Bears.

In that game, Addai lost his MVP trophy to quarterback Peyton Manning. In Super Bowl XLIV, his MVP bid -- which seemed very legitimate at halftime with his 80 yards from scrimmage and the Colts leading the Saints 10-6 -- was destroyed Sunday by a New Orleans offense that dominated in the second half and was outscored 15-0 in the fourth quarter.

Addai, meanwhile, was one of the few highlights for Indianapolis in what would be a 31-17 loss to the sentimental favorite Saints. The fourth-year back had 135 yards from scrimmage -- 77 rushing, and 58 yards receiving on seven receptions.

MIAMI -- If ever there was a Super Bowl champion that was more than just a Super Bowl champion, it's the New Orleans Saints.

"We played for so much more than ourselves. We played for our city. We played for the entire Gulf Coast region. We played for 'Who Dat' nation,'' said Drew Brees, who four-and-a-half years after the Saints were driven from their homes by Hurricane Katrina, led his team to a 31-17 win over the Indianapolis Colts.

"The city was 85 percent under water, most of the population moved to other cities, and none of them knew if they'd ever come back. It's just an amazing feeling.''

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MIAMI -- You want to know about Tracy Porter's haircut, which is understandable, and we'll get to that. You can't write the story about the guy whose interception of Peyton Manning won the Super Bowl without addressing how and why he showed up with images of the Louisiana Superdome and the Lombardi Trophy shaved into his head. Or how he missed the team bus to the game because that haircut took so long. We'll get to that soon enough, but we're going to start with the interception, because Porter credits one of the most exciting plays in Super Bowl history to one of the most boring and mundane things a football player does.

"It was just great film study," Porter said. "All week, we watched it on film, and on third down, that was a big route for them. They went to it a lot. And when that route came, it was just like I was watching it on film. And when I caught the pick, my mindset was to score. That's our mindset every time we get our hands on the ball on defense."

The happiest fans outside of the French Quarter should be all the Patriots fans around Boston.

When Tracy Porter picked off Peyton Manning and returned it for a 74-yard touchdown, he cleared up any question of who is the team of the decade. Take a bow New England, the '00s were the decade of the Patriots.

Surely no Patriots fan would have bought the Colts argument anyway, but a Colts' win would have given Indianapolis' fans a reason to contest the Patriots claim to Team of the Decade.

Who Dat? Super Bowl champions, that's who.

After only nine winning seasons in their 43-year history, the New Orleans Saints capped off an outstanding season with an upset over the Indianapolis Colts, 31-17, in Super Bowl XLIV.

It's been almost 4 1/2 years since flooding from Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and nearly chased them out of town for good, and now the Saints are on top of the NFL world.

"It was all meant to be. It was destiny,'' said Drew Brees.

Peyton Manning led the Colts to an early 10-0 lead in the first quarter, which included a Super Bowl record-tying 96-yard touchdown drive. But the Saints pulled within four of the Colts to close out the half, thanks to two long Garrett Hartley field goals in the second quarter.

New Orleans opened the second half by recovering a surprising onside kick and Brees marched the Saints to their first lead of the game, 13-10, on a 16-yard catch-and-run by Pierre Thomas.