Now that Reggie Wayne has been on the winning and losing side of a Super Bowl, he has gained greater perspective on how difficult it is to get there. His expectation is to return to the biggest stage in sports, but the reality might not be as promising.

“One thing about winning one (Super Bowl) is that you have to figure out a way to win another,” Wayne said. “It’s kind of like tattoos. It gets a little contagious after a while. In this case, two is better than one and … three is better than two. It never stops.”

When Wayne caught a 53-yard touchdown pass in Super Bowl XLI after the 2006 season, the game’s lone touchdown pass, the euphoria of the moment put him on cloud nine. Helping his Indianapolis Colts top the Chicago Bears is a moment that won’t be duplicated, and to Wayne, it remains fresh in his mind.

“It was two weeks of a bunch of media,” the wide receiver said. “I remember after the game was over, I’m celebrating with my teammates and it’s 15 minutes after the game and I’m still seeing Chicago Bears walking off the field. That’s a feeling that you understand is not easy to handle, so the best way to not experience that is to win the game.”

Unfortunately for Wayne, it became a feeling that he and the Colts experienced when they lost to the New Orleans Saints last month in Super Bowl XLIV. During a frenzied fourth quarter, when it mattered most, the New Orleans defense made big plays against the Indianapolis offense, and the Saints captured their franchise’s first world championship.

“They’re a scrappy bunch,” Wayne said of the Saints defense. “They play with a lot of intensity. Those guys seem like they always find a knack for punching the ball out and creating turnovers. A lot of that is on momentum with the offense. The offense really gets those guys fired up, so you really have to do a good job of disguising coverages [and] changing things around.”

Although watching the Saints celebrate their Super Bowl win on the same field where his Colts did so three years ago was difficult for Wayne, his disappointment was somewhat softened by knowing he lost to a team he supports. As a native of New Orleans, Wayne grew up a Saints fan. On Sundays, after church with his mom, he would listen to the Saints play on radio because the game often would be blacked out on TV. Sitting on the couch with his dad, he remembers rooting for players like Bobby Hebert, John Fourcade and Eric Martin.

Wayne’s allegiance toward the Saints has continued in his adult life, because his mentor at the University of Miami, Curtis Johnson, is the Saints’ wide receivers coach. Wayne said Johnson taught him virtually everything he knows about playing the position.

“Deep down inside, I’m still a Saints fan,” Wayne admitted. “Growing up in New Orleans, it’s like you really have no choice. I’ve seen a lot of brown paper bags in my lifetime, and just to see those guys where they are today is outstanding—the things that they’re doing for that city. So I’m a huge fan of the Saints. I always have been.”

With dozens of his friends and relatives attending Super Bowl XLIV to watch him perform—but with a rooting interest for the Saints—Wayne recorded five receptions for 46 yards in the big game. As a veteran with plenty of big-game experience, Wayne realizes that the turnover margin oftentimes dictates the outcome. When the Colts turned it over during a late fourth-quarter drive, he knew their chances of prevailing with their second title in four years had all but disappeared.

“Turnovers are always key,” said Wayne, a four-time Pro Bowler with 9,393 career receiving yards and 63 touchdowns over nine seasons. “Normally, the team that has the most turnovers is the team that loses. We understand that you have to take care of the ball, no matter what the situation is. You want to score as much as possible, as fast as possible and just hope that you don’t lose that turnover battle.”

The departure of future Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison from the Colts last offseason put the burden on Wayne to produce like a true No. 1 receiver. Defenses employed frequent double teams on Wayne, altering the dynamic of the Colts’ passing game and challenging Wayne to adjust to the extra attention.

One thing about winning one (Super Bowl) is that you have to figure out a way to win another. --Reggie Wayne, Colts WR

“I guess the grass isn’t always greener on the other side,” he said. “Every receiver wants to be the No. 1, but it comes with a lot of heartache, I must say. But I learned a lot from him (Harrison), and hopefully I can take that with me.”

As the pressure fell on Wayne and tight end Dallas Clark to be Peyton Manning’s top targets, a pair of young, unproven receivers emerged to carry the Colts passing game in 2009. Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon learned from Wayne and Clark, two of the game’s best, and their production picked up as a result. Collie and Garcon combined for 107 receptions for 1,441 yards and 11 touchdowns during the regular season.

“He’s like the Godfather of our wide receiving crew,” Garcon said of Wayne. “He’s been in the league for a while, and for any guy to play that long, he’s certainly doing something right.”

Clark credited Wayne with easing the inexperienced wideouts along as the season progressed.

“Reggie has done a phenomenal job with those guys and has helped them with questions,” Clark said. “Any questions that they come to ask us, we’re going to be there to help because we’re teammates. The more they get it, the quicker they respond, the better they’ll be. Everyone has done a great job of expecting a lot out of them. In return, they have done a lot.”

In particular, Wayne singled out Garcon for his contributions despite the earthquake in Haiti, which directly affected his family.

“I think that goes to show you that even in the midst of what was going on, he’s able to focus in and still play football,” Wayne said. “That’s an opportunity for him to get away from all of that stuff.”

Garcon said, “Just about everything I know is because of Reggie. He’s the ideal leader.”

As the AFC champion Colts embark on another offseason of searching for ways to win the big one, questions abound on Manning’s all-time quarterback ranking. Wayne comes to the discussion with a reasonable bias, of course, having caught balls only from Manning since he’s been in the league.

“The only thing I can do is help build that foundation,” Wayne said of Manning’s case as the best quarterback in history. “He’s definitely one of the best, in my mind. He puts in so much heart, hard work and preparation. He just wants to be a winner and whenever you have a quarterback that wants to win and do whatever it takes to win, you want him on your team.”