New Orleans Saints' head coach Sean Payton had never impressed me all that much.

Long praised as the wunderkind on Bill Parcells' staff in Dallas, it always seemed to me that he was given too much credit for his affiliation under the Parcells' coaching umbrella. And while I respect Parcells' football acumen, quite frankly I think he's a big dick and that assessment also transferred to Payton in my mind.

In the 2006-07 NFC Championship Game, Payton was outcoached by a man who probably has trouble balancing his checkbook (Lovie Smith) and that obviously did little to change my mind. My perception didn't change the following season either when the Saints finished dead last in the NFC South while playing a tough, first-place schedule.

Winning a Super Bowl last month doesn't really astound me either - - Barry Switzer and Tom Coughlin welcome you proudly to the club.

But my feelings on Payton have begun to shift. His task in New Orleans was more than winning ballgames; it was changing the culture of losing that's been the status quo there for the last 43 seasons. It's his role in the Saints becoming an integral part of the community after Hurricaine Katrina devastated the area and everyone thought owner Tom Benson was headed with the Mayflower moving trucks to San Antonio or Los Angeles.

And now this piece of news from the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis (from Peter King's MMQB column):

On Friday night, the Saints' staff at the combine gathered in a private room at St. Elmo Steakhouse, an 108-year-old Indy landmark, for a final celebratory nod to the Super Bowl win over the Colts...At the restaurant, word passed that Dallas owner Jerry Jones would have his Dallas group in this exact room Saturday night for a team dinner. Jones had even phoned ahead, according to a waiter, to make sure a magnum of a wine he loved, Caymus Special Selection cabernet sauvignon, was ready to be served at dinner.