When Quarterback Drew Brees signed with the New Orleans Saints as a loose agent on March 14, 2006, Archie Manning and Aaron Brooks had quarterback records among them.
Manning has one now, and it can still hurt him: 337 catches in his career from 1971 to 1982.
Brooks, who played from 2000 to 2005, is reduced to two: maximum passes attempted with 60 against Denver in 2004 and captured in a season with 50 in 2001.
Brees has almost everything else: 20 franchise pass records to be exact, adding race air yards with 68,010 vs 21,734 Manning career achievements with 6017 vs 1849 for Manning, Race landing passes with 491 vs 120 Brooks, three-hundred-yard race pass games with 116 to the 10 mark and Brooks’ career pin from 101. 52 to 81. 1 consistent with Jim Everett (1994-96).
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All this, and downtown Louisiana and the footprint of the Saints on neighboring Mississippi, the Alabama coast, and Florida.
“Everyone loves Drew Brees, ” said former Saints quarterback Bobby Hebert. “My wife (Joan) said, ‘If you ever hear anything about Drew Brees, I don’t need to hear it, because it’s useless to humanity. ‘”
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell would possibly have told Sports Illustrated bigger in 2010 in a time after Brees, a local from Austin, Texas, who played in Purdue with no ties to New Orleans or the region, won super bowl XLIV MVP with 31-17 wins over Indianapolis and Manning’s son. Peyton:
“It’s calling a date in our league, between a player and a city, which is more significant than the Saints and Drew Brees. “
And it wasn’t planned.
“I think Drew would be a valid starter for the Saints like him with the Chargers when we hired him,” said Hebert, a WWL radio announcer in New Orleans. “But not a member of the Hall of Fame. I have this idea that you can simply lead the Saints. “to the playoffs, but not to be one of the most productive NFL quarterbacks of all time. “
Brees, who turned 42 on Friday, is the number one in NFL history in air yards at 80,358 and completing runs with 7,142 from 2001 to 20, counting his seasons in San Diego before New Orleans.
Tampa Bay Quarterback Tom Brady, 43, is the No. 2 of all time in air yards with 79,204 and hits with 6,778 from 2000 to 20 with their first two decades in New England. Brady is no. 1 on his TD passes with 581. Brees is number 2 with 571.
Brees and Brady face off on Sunday (6:40 p. m. FOX) in New Orleans for the first time in the NFC DivisionAl Round playoffs in the Superdome. The winner enters the NFC championship game.
Brady leads Brees in the Super Bowl titles 6-1, while Brees leads 5-2 and is only the first quarterback in history to sweep Brady 2-0 in the regular season with a 34-23 win in the first game of the season. at the dome on September 13 and a 38-3 win in Tampa on November 8.
“We text each other back and forth on Monday, just a little laugh at this total scenario,” Brees said. “Tom and I have a friendship and mutual respect. He’s 43 years old. I’m 42 on Friday. So it has been. 85 years and a lot of delight in football that will be in the box on Sunday ».
And a lot of gray.
“I saw the tweet where they face each other on the History Channel,” said the Saints’ defensive end, Cam Jordan. “I didn’t even laugh. I think it’s going to happen. I think it’s even serious. Brady’s been playing football ever since. “. 1980, something.
Jordan said a birthday present for Brees would be “Metumucil” or “a thermal blanket. “
Saints coach Sean Payton is more practical. “Just a smart red zone plan,” he says.
Brees will play his 17th playoff game with the Saints and is 9-7. Before Brees and Payton arrived in early 2006, New Orleans had a 1-5 playoff record from 1987 to 2000. From the inaugural season in 1967 to 1986, there were 18 missed seasons and two 8-8 campaigns before the Saints achieved a 12-3 win and reached the playoffs in 1987 with Hebert’s quarterback coach Jim Mora.
“There are other people who don’t even realize that the Saints have been bad for a long time,” Hebert said. “That’s because, since Brees, they’ve been making a lot of money for a decade and a half. “Don’t forget that when I went to the Saints in 1985, it stuck in my head: even with Archie Manning, they never won more than 8 games. “
The Saints and Hebert (1985–89, 91-92) went to the playoffs four times in 1987–92 under a West NFC department name in 1991, finishing 0-4. A Array500 followed the season in 1993, then six consecutive seasons of wear and tear before the first playoff win in 2000.
Starting in 2006, Brees and Payton produced winning seasons in 15 years with playoff appearances, 3 NFC championship games and the Super Bowl XLIV title. with 4 consecutive NFC South championships.
“Right now it’s the Super Bowl or the failure because they’ve won a lot in recent years,” Hebert said. “That’s what Brees and Payton did.
And if this season fails before the Super Bowl like the last three, the Saints’ enthusiasts will also be less the Brees, who are expected to retire after the season.
“It’s better now,” says Ken Trahan, an announcer who has been covering the team since 1978 and is the general manager of the team’s Hall of Fame Museum. “The chances of the Saints having a quarterback like Drew Brees again are slim. . I feel bad for the guy who happens to him.
Brees and his wife Brittany bought a space in St. Louis. Charles Avenue in the city center with the damage caused by Katrina a few months after the hurricane because Brees sought to live like the natives, even had the blue tarms.
“Actually, I was looking to be part of the culture,” Trahan said. Archie set a precedent for this. He’s lived in upscale neighborhoods since he got here and never left. In fact, it’s vital for Drew too: being part of town. His career and his have an effect on the franchise and the city was a very good storm. “
Brees, a father of four, has remained active in the city’s philanthropy since his arrival and pledged $5 million for COVID-19 assistance in Louisiana last March.
“He’s Saint’s biggest player on and off the field,” Trahan said. “It is the MVP of the greatest achievement in the history of the franchise (Super Bowl XLIV)”.
Herbert added: “The corporations he’s involved in, they give back to the community, how he behaves, it’s almost too much to be honest with. He’s like a knight in shining armor. “