Phil Anselmo: New Orleans Saints Will Repeat in 2011

Lifelong New Orleans Saints fan and former Pantera frontman Phil Anselmo had the good fortune to be able to meet members of the Super Bowl champion Saints recently. Former Saint Michael 'The Beerman' Lewis even let Anselmo try on his swanky championship ring, which is a dream come true for any fan whose team just won the big game.

"It could only fit on my pinky, but I will tell you why," Anselmo told Noisecreep about the SB ring, which is usually massive in size and scope. "The guy, the owner of this fantastic ring is five-foot-nine, Michael 'The Beerman' Lewis. He is not on the team anymore, but he is a fantastic story in himself. He used to drive a beer truck and he was an athletic guy, back in late 1990s and he played with Saints in early '00s. He walked on the field, made the team and was a punt/kick return specialist and is an ambassador for the Saints, but my God, was the ring big? Yes! Heck yeah it was big, and it was snazzy and fantastic. What an honor!"

I had to ask Anselmo for his 2011 Super Bowl predictions, and of course he said his Saints would repeat -- but because of analysis, not bias. "I would hopefully say the Saints," he said. "You gotta understand, when you have a QB like Drew Brees, you don't not go to back to the Super Bowl. That is the toughest part of the NFL. The team that went last year will not be totally in the act the following season. You wish a team would not be a business, but it is a total business ... and there is a lot of money in the NFL, so looking at this roster, the 2010 roster? There is no reason on this planet, barring severe injury -- which is always a possibility -- we couldn't repeat or get deep into playoffs. I don't see anyone beating us barring that damn injury concern." He's right, even though this writer a die-hard Philadelphia Eagles fan!

Of course, Anselmo offered his take on the Eagles, who shipped franchise quarterback Donovan McNabb to the division rival Washington Redskins in April in favor of unproven backup Kevin Kolb. "After the Saints demolished the Eagles last year, Kolb threw a beautiful pass to DeSean Jackson," he recalled. They could be putting together a good team over there, but the offensive line needs work." I couldn't agree with him more. One other thing we agree on? Our hatred of the Dallas Cowboys. "I lived in Dallas at the height of the [Michael] Irvin/[Emmitt] Smith/[Troy] Aikman/[Jimmy] Johnson era and hated it," he said.