Brees completed 19 of 34 pass attempts for 134 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions in Sunday's NFC divisional-round loss to Tampa Bay. Brees was unable to push the ball downfield (3.9.
- Drew Brees is the NFL's all-time leader in 300-yard passing games. Can you name who is second all-time? Subscribe to Stathead, the set of tools used by the pros, to unearth this and other interesting factoids.
- Brees' supporting cast is arguably better this season, with Emmanuel Sanders added to a group that includes Michael Thomas, Jared Cook, Alvin Kamara and a quality line. Now 41, Brees is a back-end.
- Sep 08, 2020 Tall and handsome Drew Brees is an American renown footballer who began playing professionally since 2001. He is best known as the footballer for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He plays the quarterback position.
- Before Friday afternoon, Saints quarterback Drew Brees had issued multiple apologies for reiterating his viewpoint on peaceful protests during the national anthem without addressing whether he had.
The NFL wasn't always a breeze for Drew Brees.
Long before the days of Twitter hyper-analyzing sports, sharing gifs and arguing about Taysom Hill, the Chargers spent time in San Diego, where they had Brees as quarterback.
While Brees showed plenty of talent and promise as a franchise passer with the Chargers, San Diego wasn't sold, eventually drafting Eli Manning with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft. (See? This is all very weird.) Manning would subsequently be traded to the Giants for quarterback Philip Rivers, loading up the quarterback room for the Chargers.
Playing under the franchise tag for the Chargers in 2005 showed the writing on the wall for Brees in a Chargers uniform. Here's why they let him walk:
MORE: How long will Drew Brees play into his 40s?
Why did the Chargers let Drew Brees leave in free agency?
A Purdue football product, the Chargers selected Brees with the first pick in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft, the second QB drafted (behind Michael Vick, who went No. 1 overall). While Brees wasn't of the typical height or build coming out of college, he garnered some first-round interest, but eventually fell to the second to the Chargers.
Brees' first five years in the NFL weren't anything Brees-like just yet: In 59 games, he threw for 12,348 yards, 80 touchdowns to 53 interceptions and averaged just over 200 yards per game. Slightly different era, sure, but the talent was apparent. Still, the Chargers were seemingly ready to move on.
In the Chargers' last game of the 2005 season, Brees' future was irrevocably changed when the fifth-year QB was injured trying to recover a fumble. Broncos defensive lineman Gerard Warren landed on Brees, causing him to tear his labrum, which he needed surgery for the following offseason. In addition to the labrum tear, Brees had damage to his rotator cuff and dislocated his shoulder, as well. The recovery period was longer than the Chargers had anticipated.
While the Chargers offered Brees a five-year deal to stay, the combination of having drafted Rivers the prior season, uncertainty about Brees' health and Brees' contract requests, both sides split following the 2005 season.
MORE: Revisiting the Drew Brees national anthem controversy
Why didn't the Dolphins sign Drew Brees?
The Dolphins had two shots at Brees: in the 2001 NFL Draft, when he was on the board for the Dolphins No. 26 selection, and in free agency following Brees' decision to move on from the Chargers.
Draft misses are common, but this one hurts:
For months, the Miami Dolphins scouting department was suggesting the team select Drew Brees in the 2001 Draft. Then Dave Wannstedt was OK with passing on Brees seven picks before he was selected, because Josh Heupel was there later. Heupel’s career NFL passing yards? 0. pic.twitter.com/xlS0XN77a1
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) October 9, 2018Drew Brees Family
The Dolphins had another opportunity following Brees' departure from the Chargers, but team doctors advised against signing Brees because of his injured shoulder. The Dolphins would trade for Vikings starter Daunte Culpepper instead, leaving Brees with two options: re-sign with the Chargers or continue talking with the Saints.
How the Saints signed Drew Brees
While the Chargers offered an incentive-laden deal to keep Brees on the West Coast, the Boilermaker was drawn to the Bayou with a little bit more money.
Brees, securing $10 million guaranteed his first season with a $12 million option for the second year, signed a six-year, $60 million deal, starting the Brees-Sean Payton duo in New Orleans, which would win the Super Bowl in 2010. The Chargers wouldn't come off or improve their incentive-based deal, effectively taking them out of the running for the quarterback. The team reportedly offered five years and $50 million, but with only a $2 million base salary.
The rest, as they say, is history.
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The New Orleans Saints received some backlash on social media Sunday before their wild-card playoff game after deleting a tweet that showed Drew Brees in a '#SayHerName' shirt.
Drew Brees Height
Brees and his Saints teammates have worn the shirt throughout the season in support of getting justice for Breonna Taylor, who was killed during a police raid in Kentucky in March.
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees makes a face while warming up before an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Chicago Bears in New Orleans, Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Brett Duke)
The picture of Brees was tweeted by the Saints and caused some to believe he was supporting a woman who was killed by police in Washington, D.C., when a violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.
New Orleans deleted the tweet and posted another one showing defensive back Malcolm Jenkins in the same shirt along with an explanation of why they were wearing the shirts. Jenkins has been one of the biggest NFL voices in the fight for social justice. It's unclear why the Saints deleted the original tweet in the first place.
Drew Brees Age
Brees created a firestorm over the summer when he said players should stand for the national anthem.
Brees told Yahoo Finance in June he would 'never agree' with anyone who would kneel during the national anthem. NFL players had vowed to protest in some way during the season to draw attention to police brutality and social injustice in the U.S. in the wake of George Floyd’s death on May 25 while in police custody in Minneapolis.
Drew Brees Stats
His comments drew sharp rebuke from several players, including his own teammates.
He would apologize and later call his comments a 'missed opportunity.'