The lighter side of the Super Bowl

Human bench press

At one point during Super Bowl media day, Indianapolis Colts offensive linemanMichael Toudouze was lying on his back on the carpet, bench-pressing a woman.

The woman said she was a television reporter who covered the Saints.

"I pushed her up like 20 times or so," Toudouze said. "She was asking me questions while I was doing it. She was only like 80 pounds."

The woman was the first person to approach Toudouze and her request for him to bench-press her was the first question he fielded.

"Right out of the box, you get a goofy question," Toudouze said. "She's asking me the difference between Peyton Manning and Drew Brees. She's asking me this while I pushed her up. They were basically talking about how they were going to make me do it longer so the Saints would win. They wanted to wear me out so the Saints would win."

Toudouze is a reserve tackle who will play only if a starter is hurt. He was among the final cuts in training camp and was at home in Texas until the Colts re-signed him Dec. 9.

Back in the day

Brees first met the man he'll oppose in Super Bowl XLIV during his junior year at Purdue when the two were at the same golf tournament.

Brees went to Indianapolis several times to watch Manning play, including a Monday night game when Manning set the franchise record for passing yards in a game.

"I had a chance to see him after the game, see him at different events here and there," Brees said. "One time, specifically, we came back and beat Ohio State my senior year, and sure enough I have a message on my phone from Peyton saying, 'Hey, I had a chance to watch the game. I'm really happy for you. Way to battle.'

"For a young college player, here's Peyton Manning, second or third year in the league, already kind of coming into his own, Pro Bowl player, one of the best in the league. For him to kind of reach out to me like that meant a lot to me as a young player. Who would've thought 10 years from then we'd be sitting here playing in a Super Bowl against one another?"

Quote of the day

"Cooper and I used to, while waiting on my dad, used to go out on the Superdome turf and play. Get a big ball of tape, wad it up and play one-on-one, 100-yard football, the first person to score twice. You are pretty much exhausted after that." -- Peyton Manning on playing with his older brother during their dad's time as the Saints quarterback

Jeff Rabjohns, Phillip B. Wilson