While Brees was popular in San Diego during his first five NFL seasons, he became synonymous with New Orleans after signing with the Saints. “The way that he came into work every day.
Drew breeze retiring pro#
“Since I’ve been here Drew has been nothing but a good teammate, a good guy, great leader, and I respect him so much in all facets of his life,” said center Erik McCoy, a two-year pro who grew up watching Brees and wound up snapping him the ball the past two seasons.
Payton often spoke of his collaborative relationship with Brees in formulating the offensive game plan and routinely letting Brees call his own plays, particularly during hurry-up drives. Teammates have often remarked that Brees was usually the first player to arrive at the team’s training headquarters and last to leave.
Brees’ five 5,000-yard seasons all rank in the top 11 all time.īrees also has been the unquestioned face of the franchise and leader in the locker room throughout his time in New Orleans. That mark ranks second all time, one yard behind Peyton Manning’s 5,477 yards with Denver in 2013. Payton’s offenses were more passing oriented in some seasons than others for a variety of reasons related to personnel, the types of defenses the Saints faced and the way games played out.īut when Brees had to throw, he piled up yardage whether the Saints were a playoff team or not.īrees eclipsed the 5,000-yard mark in five seasons, with his career-best 5,476 yards coming in 2011. His 70.5% rate in 2020 ranked ninth all time, giving Brees six of the top nine season completion rates in NFL history. Indeed, a hallmark of Brees’ career has been his decision-making, timing and accuracy.īrees not only holds the NFL’s single-season record for completion rate at 74.4% in 2018, but also holds the second-highest mark at 74.3 in 2019 and third-highest at 72% in 2017. The franchise’s only Super Bowl appearance and championship came in the 2009 season, with Brees, selected as the game’s MVP, memorably celebrating with first child Baylen in his arms as confetti floated around them.īrees’ 32 completions (on 39 attempts) tied a Super Bowl record, just one of numerous times the 6-foot-1 quarterback, drafted by the San Diego Chargers out of Purdue in the beginning of the second round of the 2001 draft, etched his name in NFL record books. That would be the first of nine seasons in which Brees led the Saints to the playoffs. One season later, with then-first-year coach Sean Payton calling plays and Brees executing them, the Saints won 10 regular-season games and a divisional-round playoff game in a rebuilt Superdome - a storybook run that didn’t end until a loss in Chicago in New Orleans’ first ever NFC championship game. The storm had forced the Saints to play all of their 2005 games outside New Orleans, and the Saints finished that season 3-13. When Brees moved to New Orleans, he bought and renovated a historic home in the city’s Uptown neighborhood, just a block away from Audubon Park. He joined the Saints shortly after, at a time when New Orleans was still coping with widespread devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. His retirement brings an end to a career that came to embody resilience and renewal on multiple levels.īrees’ most prolific seasons came after he underwent major reconstructive surgery in early 2006 to repair a career-threatening throwing shoulder injury.
While Brees had dropped hints about his intentions, saying he considered himself to be on “borrowed time,” he declined to confirm his plans until now. Brees’ 571 career touchdown passes rank second behind Brady’s 581. “He’s as courageous and as tough a player as I’ve ever been around.”īrees is the NFL’s all-time leader in yards passing with 80,358, although that mark will be under threat next season by 44-year-old Tom Brady, who has 79,204 career yards passing. I can recall so many of these different injuries,” Payton said. “Over the years his durability and availability is quite amazing. Saints coach Sean Payton said Brees had plenty of other injuries or ailments during his Saints tenure, but willed himself to play through them whenever possible. Celtics reportedly trade Marcus Smart, acquire Kristaps Porzingis in 3-team deal
0 kommentar(er)
