No Caddy for Super Bowl MVP This Year

DETROIT — Cadillac confirmed for Inside Line on Monday morning that it has quietly discontinued its program of awarding a Cadillac to the Super Bowl MVP. That means that Drew Brees, the New Orleans Saints quarterback who was named the game's Most Valuable Player in the 31-17 win over the Indianapolis Colts, will not be driving away in a new Cadillac Escalade or CTS-V.

"That program ran its course," said David Caldwell, Cadillac spokesman, in a telephone conversation. "Our marketing approach is less sponsorship oriented. We're not doing as many as we once did. We are now more [consumer] test-drive oriented. We will expand the test-drive experiences this year."

He added: "It's not a major philosophical change. It's a minor strategic shift."

Caldwell insisted that the shift away from awarding a Cadillac to the Super Bowl MVP is not a result of the automaker's bankruptcy filing last year.

Cadillac awarded vehicles to the MVP in the last eight Super Bowls. Most of the winning players picked the Cadillac Escalade. Santonio Holmes selected an $85,275 2009 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid Platinum 2WD loaded with such goodies as four DVD screens, as his prize for being chosen as Super Bowl XLIII MVP last year.

Holmes was the sixth Super Bowl MVP to choose an Escalade. Tom Brady, the Super Bowl MVP in 2004, chose a Cadillac XLR, as did Deion Branch of the New England Patriots in 2005, according to Cadillac. Brady holds the distinction of having won two Cadillacs: He was the Super Bowl MVP in 2002 and took home a Cadillac Escalade afterward.

Inside Line says: Brees gets the keys to New Orleans, but not the keys to a Cadillac. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent