Bob McFlurry with Sports
I love Drew Brees and I mean that in the gayest way possible. I’ve loved this guy since his sophomore season in 1998 at Purdue when he led the team on an 80 yard drive with 1:25 left on the clock and threw a 25 yard strike to Ike Jones (of a rival high school of mine) for the game winner against #4 Kansas State in the Alamo Bowl. I remember this distinctly because not only was that night the first time I had ever taken a flaming shot of Bacardi 151 and a neighbor had hit my car parked outside my friends house, but also the amazing statistic that Brees’ Boilermakers were only the second unranked team to beat a top 5 team in bowl game in history. It is still easily a top 10 College Football game I have ever watched.
Brees continued a storied College career earning Academic All-America Player of the Year as a Senior and garnering the Maxwell Award for the nation’s most Outstanding Player. Drew also holds the record for the longest pass in NCAA history at 99 yards.
Brees was drafted by San Diego with the first pick in the second round of the 2001 NFL draft (San Diego drafted Ladanian Tomlinson in the first round). Initially I was somewhat weary of Brees taking it to the next level given his 6 foot 190+ frame. The trend of high round QB’s drafted into the NFL was that of size and athleticism more so than cognitive function in the early 2000’s and to some extent continues today (See Jamarcus Russell).
However, Brees put my doubts to rest starting in 2004 in his 3rd year as the starting QB for the Chargers posting an insane TD to Int ratio (27-7), passer rating (104.8) and with Tomlinson led San Diego to a 12-4 record and their first playoff birth in 9 years.
Before that 2004 season though, the Chargers drafted Eli Manning, eventually trading him to the NY Giants in exchange for the rights to Phillip Rivers and several draft picks. A protracted contract dispute between the Chargers and Rivers allowed Brees to be named started and enjoy a breakout year in 2004. Brees was a free agent at the end of 2004 and eventually would be lassoed with the Franchise Tag for the 2005 season. Brees did go down late in the 2005 season with a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder.
In 2006 the New Orleans saints took a chance on the once comeback player of the year and gave him a 6 year 60 million dollar contract. In 2006 he was named runner up to Tomlinson for the AP NFL MVP. The same year he took the Saints past the Eagles and into the NFC Championship game against the Bears. The next two seasons were not as good as the Saints fell back to mediocrity going 7-9 and 8-8 mostly due to defensive deficiencies. By this time though Brees had established himself as an upper echelon QB starting a Pro Bowl game. He fell 15 yards short of the single season passing yardage mark owned by Dan Marino.
All in all, Brees is, in my opinion, the second best QB in the NFL at this point behind Peyton Manning (yes above Tom Brady). I think Brees will continue a torrid pace this year and win the AP MVP if another running back, Adrian Peterson, does not block him from it. It’s good to see that a QB of a smaller stature can thrive in the NFL given that most teams draft 6’4” athletic specimens to play QB but seem to forget that the QB needs to make decisions with the ball, not just throw or run with it.
Look for the Saints to beat the Giants this week and be a force to be reckoned with the rest of the season.