Every great NFL quarterback wants to end his career with a Super Bowl title. If Drew Brees pulls that off in 2020 he’ll achieve football immortality.
The New Orleans Saints didn’t draft Drew Brees, but that hasn’t stopped him from being synonymous with their franchise since his arrival in 2006.
The likelihood that 2020 will be his last NFL season gives him a unique opportunity that eludes almost all of his peers. Brees has a chance to go out on top with a Super Bowl title.
The thoughtful signal-caller will never admit he’s internally driven by a quest for such glory. Instead, expect Brees to espouse the platitudes about taking things by the day and trying to help his team win football games. He’s under no obligation to give fans an invasive look into what will drive his last season as a professional.
Brees took a long, strange trip to New Orleans
In some ways, Brees was always meant to achieve this kind of success. The grandson of legendary Texas high school coach Ray Akins led Austin Westlake High School to an undefeated season and state championship in 2006.
The prominent high school program churns out quality quarterbacks at an astounding level. Brees is the brightest star the program’s ever produced, but guys like Nick Foles and, more recently, Sam Ehlinger also call the program their alma mater. It’s the perfect school to produce an all-time great at the game’s most important position.
Brees didn’t leave the school with a guarantee of stardom though. Instead of enrolling at a local blueblood like Texas, he took his talents to Purdue. He put up video game numbers in head coach Joe Tiller’s aerial attack and even led the Boilermakers to a Rose Bowl berth in his final season.
That type of collegiate success should have qualified Brees to be a highly sought after draft prospect. That didn’t go according to plan either. Instead of landing in the top 10, Brees slipped all the way into Round 2 due to concerns about his height. He’s currently listed by the Saints as generously being 6-feet tall.
The measurement really hurt Brees in an era of NFL football where every franchise wants to select a mammoth signal-caller who can peer over the line and launch.
Again, Brees failed to end up with a blueblood property in the NFL. The San Diego/ Los Angeles Chargers have long operated on the fringes of relevancy. To Brees’ credit, he seized the starting job in his second season and powered the team to a steady run of success. His 11-4 record in 15 starts during the 2004 season should have proven his skills to evaluators all around the league.
When Brees hit free agency in 2006, early indications were he was going to end up in Miami. Instead, the Dolphins elected to go with Duante Culpeper. Questions over Brees’ injured shoulder definitely played a role in Miami’s choice, but so did the fact that Culpepper checked in at 6-foot-5.
The break of a lifetime
Instead, Brees ended up signing with the Saints. The franchise was coming off an ugly 3-13 campaign and had tabbed former Cowboys assistant Sean Payton to lead the rebuilds of both the team and city post-Katrina.
Even the most enthusiastic Saints optimist couldn’t have predicted their eventual success.
Brees’ shoulder proved no impediment in New Orleans. He became the perfect trigger man for Payton’s high-paced attack. Their symbiotic relationship was most productive in 2009 when they brought a Lombardi Trophy home, fully transforming the Saints from perennial laughingstock to annual contender.
In that time, Brees has cemented his case as a surefire NFL Hall of Famer. He’s thrown for over 77,000 yards in his career while powering his respective teams to 163 wins. The 574 touchdown passes further prove his productivity.
So what’s really left for Brees?
The odds have been stacked Brees numerous times. Instead of crumbling against one last challenge, Brees will drive forward in his (likely) final campaign on a Super Bowl contender.
Brees has a chance to elevate his legacy by doing something precious few have been able to accomplish. In the modern era, only John Elway and Peyton Manning have managed to win a Super Bowl in their last game as a starting quarterback.
Everyone associated with the Saints will do everything they can to send him out on that high note.
Not bad for a quarterback who has frequently been judged too short to reach such great heights.