Pierre Garcon Using Devastation As Fuel For Super Bowl

NFL News - February 6th, 2010 - Written by John

It's called a cedille.

That little hook thingy on the bottom of Pierre Garçon's name. Remember it, because it will probably be around for a long time. The second-year wideout from -Mount Union has quietly built his reputation this year from an underprivileged youth from Haiti, to one of the NFL's brightest bloomers thanks to Peyton Manning and another impressive run by the Indianapolis Colts.

They are five-point favorites in the Super Bowl, according to Bodog, after winning all 14 games that they tried to win, and torching two good defenses in the AFC bracket.

Garçon, a sixth-round draft pick in 2008, hasn't exactly just stood around.

He was shipped to Fort Lauderdale when he was young to gain an education in America, and starred at John I. Leonard High School. Although he garnered little attention from major programs, he was able to move on to Division III Mount Union, where he averaged 62 catches, 1,095 yards and 15 touchdowns over four years, and was drafted by Indianapolis.

When former first-round pick Anthony Gonzalez went down with a torn knee in the first game this season, it was up to he and fellow-unknown Austin Collie to pick up the slack.

And while most Colts fans seemed to become forlorn for better days, the pair has kept the offense running uninterrupted.

Garçon has 765 yards and four touchdowns in his first real action, and is among the favorites to win Super Bowl MVP on Sunday. He has 10/1 odds, according to Bodog, which puts him among teammates Joseph Addai and Reggie Wayne. His over/under line for the game is 4 1/2 catches and 62 1/2 yards, and he is favored do hit the over in both, according to NFL Player Props.

And in his most trying time, spending hours awake in bed thinking about his homeland ravaged by a powerful earthquake that registered as a seven on the Richter scale, Garçon was at his absolute best. He was the MVP in the AFC Championship with a game-record 10 catches and 151 yards. When he accepted the award, he drooped a Haitian flag on the table stand in honor of his countrymen who died in the quake.

"I'm not certain you can ever say any tragedy like that helps," coach Jim Caldwell told NBC Sports. "I'm certain he'd rather be free of those worries. But I do think that he's shown some unusual resolve. I think he's used some of that, maybe to push him forward. I think I heard him mention that if he could do something and do it well, it may bring a ray of sunshine to one or two of his family members who is OK.

He says he plans on wearing a bandana during the Super Bowl, which will pay tribute to Haiti.

"I'm trying to give them a little hope and trying to help as much as I can and do something positive for them," Garçon said told NBC Sports. "So far, I'm very pleased with what we have done with a lot of help and support. I know we couldn't do it by ourselves. I've been in touch with Haiti and I'm very pleased with what we have done."

Garçon admits that he has had trouble coping with the country's demise, and says that life was already tough there to begin with. But he hopes to use his success on the field as a means to pay tribute to his family and raise further awareness of the situation.

"Hopefully, we will win and I will have it (the Haitian flag) out there with me," he said. "There are a lot of bad aspects with being Haitian so I'm just trying to do something positive and let people and especially kids know we can make it (in America) and be anybody we want to be."