Latest / The K.B. Radio Network / Celebrating Drew Brees: A Journey from Draft Pick to Saints Legend in the Hall of Fame

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Celebrating Drew Brees: A Journey from Draft Pick to Saints Legend in the Hall of Fame · The K.B. Radio Network

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who that to the who that nation welcome to the who that say podcast your podcast for the new orleans saints here on the kb radio network i am your fellow who that and host kevin reed and today is a celebration this
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is the who that say podcast we talk new orleans saints and of course normally we'll jump into training camp reports and who's shining and
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you know what's to expect with the first preseason game coming up soon against the jacksonville jaguars getting hyped up for football season as we do in the who that nation and that's not the show today today's
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celebration that you know i guess i guess it's because for the past i don't know five years we have we have
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been craving some good news here in the who that nation it's been a struggle for the saints fans around the world and it's it's not been good it's not been happy times but finally we have something to celebrate finally we have something to cheer for finally we
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can get in on the joy of watching the greatest quarterback in saints history and one of you
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the greatest quarterbacks to ever touch an NFL field be enshrined in the Pro
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Football Hall of Fame and that is none other than Drew
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Christopher
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Breeze.
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Number nine himself will be a first ballot Hall of Famer as he is inducted into the Hall of Fame on
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Saturday, August the eighth and I couldn't think of a more deserving player to
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Walk in on his first go around.
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It's fitting.
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It's a no-brainer.
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This was a layup in basketball terms.
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This was the easiest vote you probably could vote.
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Drew Brees is probably the prototypical quarterback you want on your team.
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First in,
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last out guy at practice.
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Coach on the field.
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A guy who can elevate.
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the players that are on the field with him the a guy who calls out protections even when the offensive line don't see the blitz coming he sees it coming and can call it out it can be mobile but not mobile in the michael vick uh lamar
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jackson sense i'm talking mobile around that pocket he would work a pocket like none other he's literally in a phone booth and he will
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Just do that little shoulder dip to throw off a defensive tackle or a defensive end who is rushing him.
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It is the craziest thing.
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And this dude did it at six feet tall.
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At least that's what he's listed as.
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Being somebody who's seen him in person,
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he's not six feet tall.
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He's a little shorter than that.
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And
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I'm not shaming the man.
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I'm 5'6",
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so
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I know short when I see short.
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But he did this amongst giants.
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I mean,
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just to put it in perspective,
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our current quarterback on the team,
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Tyler Shuck,
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is 6'5".
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So he is dwarfed when it comes to,
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you know,
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just going in his era,
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Tom Brady or
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Peyton Manning or Aaron Rodgers.
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You know
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quarterbacks of that ilk he was the short one he was the little bitty guy and he made it fashionable to whereas you can put a columbary on a team you can have a russell wilson on a team you can have a uh patrick mahomes even though patrick mahomes i think it's six one
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six two maybe i forgot but he's shorter than your normal quarterback and it's the norm now rather it being
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the exception when drew brees entered the league now it wasn't all peaches and creams when drew brees got into the league he was drafted by the then san diego chargers and he was the guy there and
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it didn't quite work out there in san diego and it was all for the new orleans saints benefit when they decided to move on from drew brees and go with uh uh
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Philip Rivers,
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who they drafted,
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and...
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It became the biggest blessing in New Orleans Saints history by getting this quarterback,
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this guy,
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to join this team when they were at their literal lowest.
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To move to this city when they were at their literal lowest.
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Coming off of Katrina,
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the dome was shattered,
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the city was shattered.
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and it still is in some areas if if you're not from down here never been down here it's it's we're still trying to bounce back
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20 years later but that's that's a whole nother story but any who's to join this team and accomplish what he accomplished as a new orleans saint drew breeze in san diego and drew breeze in new orleans night
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and day two completely different quarterbacks
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it's no way you can watch highlights of him in San Diego even though he was an all pro in San Diego now granted he had he had
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Damien Thomason there with him he also had
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Antonio Gates wasn't it Antonio Gates Antonio Gates there he had weapons around him but my god when he got here oh my god but we're going to go over that we're going to go over his career
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and and justified even if i don't know how but i don't know how anybody would question him getting into the hall of fame but for all of those doubters or haters or just playing playing idiotic
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people who don't understand why drew brees is entering the hall of fame this saturday i'm gonna break down yeah you see highlights but sometimes you need to hear numbers sometimes you have to hear accolades.
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and put them in their proper perspective.
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And so it all starts off.
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Drew Brees,
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he was born in Dallas,
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Texas in 1979.
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Yes,
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we're the same age.
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It's crazy.
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He's going in the Hall of Fame,
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and
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I'm me.
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But anyways,
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he was more of a baseball guy growing up.
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He didn't play football until he got to high school.
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He loved baseball.
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And his younger brother,
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too.
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His younger brother,
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Reed,
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no relation,
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he actually made it to the MLB.
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I think he played for
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Colorado? No.
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I forgot what team he played for.
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But he went to the
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World Series.
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Or the College World Series,
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I should say.
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But,
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yeah,
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he did go on to the baseball dreams.
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a breeze once he got into high school and started playing football he noticed he had a knick knack for it you know so hey let me ride this train let's see what this takes me and now the family is an athletic family you know his parents have
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an athletic background uh his father was a basketball player at texas a&m his mother was i think she was in i think she was an all-state athlete in three different sports in high school.
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And so...
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Yeah,
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they're a very athletic family.
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You know,
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it's in their blood.
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I think they had uncles and aunties that also were athletic.
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I think Drew Brees'
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uncle,
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he was the quarterback of the Texas Longhorns back in the day in the early
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70s. His grandfather was a high school football coach in Texas.
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Yeah,
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it just runs in their blood.
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And anyways...
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Drew was still bouncing back and forth with baseball and football.
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He still was holding on to the baseball thing,
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but a strange thing happened his junior year in high school.
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He blew out his knee,
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and so he tore his ACL,
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and college recruits kind of looked past him after that.
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And you have him going into his senior year.
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He bounced back.
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You know,
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when you're young,
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you can...
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You can shake that off.
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You can rub dirt on an ACL injury.
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Now you get older,
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you get a sprained ankle and you need a full body cast.
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But his senior year in high school,
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Drew Brees was selected as
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Texas High School
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5A Most Valuable
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Offensive Player in 1996.
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And he led the Austin-Westlake High School football team to a 16-0 record,
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including...
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the state championship as the football player
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His whole four years at
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Austin High School,
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Drew Brees completed
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314 passes on 490 attempts.
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That is 64.1%
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completion average.
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There are NFL quarterbacks right now starting that don't have that average.
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He did it in high school,
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5,000.
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461 yards and 50 touchdowns.
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And that includes his senior year where he threw 211 completions on 333 attempts.
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That is 63.4%.
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That's just in that year.
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3,528 yards and 31 touchdowns.
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Breeze,
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he only started two seasons there.
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And he went 28.
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Zero and one.
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Never lost.
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And to win that state championship,
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he beat,
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I forgot the name of the school,
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but they beat him 55-15.
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At the time,
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the big star on that team was
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Dominic Rhodes,
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and he was a running back.
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He played in the NFL,
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if I'm not mistaken.
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What makes it so crazy,
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in the Super Bowl,
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the one Super Bowl that Drew Brees played in,
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Dominic Rhodes was.
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on the uh coach team if i'm not mistaken i could be but i don't think i am so they played in the uh high school championship and an nfl championship that is crazy either way anyway um he
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was given an honorable mention at the state high school all-star football team and the usa today all usa high school football team alongside his soon to be
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teammate in san diego le damien thomas drew breeze had hoped that uh he will father follow in his father's and footsteps and play in texas you know for the longhorns or or go to texas a&m but
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that wasn't in the cards uh he wasn't heavily recruited by either one of those uh institutions so he only received two college offers
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when he finished up with high school.
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One being Kentucky,
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the other being Purdue,
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the Boilermakers,
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which he chose.
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In his college career at Purdue,
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Drew Brees,
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he set two
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NCAA records,
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13
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Big Ten Conference records,
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and 19 Purdue University records.
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He finished fourth in the Heisman in 1999 and third.
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in the Heisman voting in the year 2000.
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He left Purdue with Big Ten conference records in passing yardage.
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That was 11,792 yards passing.
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He also led
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Purdue with touchdown passes with 90 and total offensive yards with 12,693.
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Completions as well.
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He completed 1,026 completions off of 1,678,
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which was also a record.
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He tied an NCAA record with a
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99-yard pass to receiver
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Vinny
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Sutherland against Northwestern on September 25,
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1999.
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And I remember that not so much like
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I studied that play.
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But I remember during the draft,
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the year he came out,
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they played that play over and over and over when he was eventually drafted.
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And he also held the NCAA record for pass attempts in a single game with 83 pass attempts for 15 years.
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That is crazy.
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I don't know who broke that.
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Actually,
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I think.
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No,
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no,
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I don't know who broke it,
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but eventually it did come tumbling down.
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I don't know how.
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Who would jack up the ball over 80 times in one game?
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I don't know.
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I just don't understand that.
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But in 2009,
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Drew Brees was inducted into the Purdue's
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Intercollegial
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Academics Hall of Fame,
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the Big Ten Conference.
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greasy and breeze quarterback of the year award initiated in 2011 and of course it was named after him and bob greasy in his honor in their honor i should say he was named the big 10 best quarterback of the
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1990s the entire decade people and he ranked number 48 in the
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2010 documentary
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Big Ten icons featuring
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the conference uh top 50 students and athletes so we fast forward to 2001 for the nfl draft drew brees finished up his college career as you can he as you see his collegiate career was off the charts you
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would think with those numbers and those accolades he would be a i don't know mid first round pick maybe second round pick no no he slipped
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due to concerns about his height because he was six feet tall.
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At least that's what he's listed as.
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And his lack of arm strength,
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which look,
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I'll never say that Drew Brees had a cannon for an arm.
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That wasn't his thing.
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But when he wanted to get it down the field,
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he got it down the field.
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But when he was coming out of high school,
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that was not high school coming out of college that was the big bugaboo on uh drew breeze his height his arm strength and uh since that he went to purdue and they ran this kind of spread offense it was it it wasn't a pro style it was pro style but it was a
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hybrid of many things and purdue and it it was fears that wouldn't translate over
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to the nfl so drew brees he was the second quarterback selected in the 2001 nfl draft right behind anybody any takers michael vick michael vick was the number one pick by the atlanta falcons that year uh
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drew brees was the second pick but he was the first pick in the second round uh to the san diego chargers uh who selected the damian thomason and with their first route.
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pick so they got their quarterback and their running back all in that uh draft there and so we we start his uh i'm about to say freshman but his rookie year in san diego and there
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was zero fireworks why because he was the backup he was the backup quarterback behind doug flutie uh doug flutie he started all 16 games that year doug flutie
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would not allow anybody to take his spot.
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And that's all,
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and Drew Brees did it.
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Drew Brees did the same thing.
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So it's no knock on Doug Flutie.
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But Brees did play in his first professional game on November the 4th,
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2001 against the Kansas City Chiefs in week eight.
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He came into the game to relieve Flutie,
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who had suffered a concussion in that game.
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He finished with 221 passing yards in his first career touchdown pass,
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a
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20-yard pass for a touchdown.
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The game against the Chiefs was Bree's long appearance that season.
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That was the only game that he entered in because Doug Flutie was not going to let him take his spot.
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So we fast forward to his second year in 2002.
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Drew Brees was named the starter over Doug Flutie,
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and he started all 16 games for the Chargers.
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The season started off well with the Chargers.
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I remember this season.
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They were 6-1.
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Boy,
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they were on fire.
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But like all flames,
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they burn out.
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They fail.
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I think they started off 6-1,
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and they end up losing
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7.
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After that or,
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yeah,
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I think it was seven games after that.
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And,
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yeah,
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because they finished 8-8 in that season.
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But he finished the 2002 season with 3,284 passing yards,
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17 touchdowns,
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and
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16 interceptions.
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In week four of 2003,
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Drew Brees recorded a
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21-yard touchdown reception.
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on a pass thrown by the Damian Thomason in a 34 to 31 overtime loss to the uh at the time Oakland Raiders after a disappointing one in seven start
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To that season,
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Drew Brees was replaced by Doug Flutie,
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though he did eventually regain the job in Week 15.
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In 11 games,
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Drew Brees finished with 2,108 passing yards,
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11 touchdowns,
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and
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15 interceptions.
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Like I said,
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San Diego was not...
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That wasn't where he was meant to be.
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You know?
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And...
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people in San Diego felt the same way.
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That's why in that year's following draft,
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the San Diego chargers selected Phillip rivers and the writing was on the wall for Mr.
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Breeze in San Diego.
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the heir apparent was there.
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the replacement was there and drew breeze was set to become a free agent after the,
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2004 season.
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And of course it was no secret that,
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San Diego was not expected to retain his services,
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and they had already committed a large amount of money to
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Phillip Rivers.
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So they weren't going to pay two quarterbacks,
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you know,
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big money to stay on the team.
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And so the team eventually designated Breeze as a franchise player and gave him a one-year contract that actually quadrupled his pay.
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He got paid $8 million in 2005.
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So under the terms of the franchise player contract,
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Drew Brees was eligible to be traded or to sign with another team.
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But the Chargers would receive two future first round draft picks in return.
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So he was not traded,
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of course,
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because who was going to give up that much capital for a quarterback?
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at that time was not worthy of that type of investment so no they kind of played him there ain't no kind of they played him in that regards whereas he couldn't uh leave the team on under his own terms or whatever the case may be and
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so he continued being the starting quarterback for the remainder of that season they started off one and two and drew breeze help lead a
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I think it was 41-17 victory over the New England Patriots that season.
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In that game,
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he went 19 for 24,
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248 yards,
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and two touchdowns.
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And he earned
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AFC Offensive Player of the Week in his efforts.
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So he posted a career high in passing yardage that season with 3,576 yards.
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Drew Brees also posted a...
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uh 89.2 quarterback rating not pass the rate but quarterback rating and it was the 10th best in the nfl however this is where this is where the ties turned and this i remember i've watched this game and i don't know why i was watching this game because i didn't care about either one of these teams the chargers or the broncos i
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didn't care but i was i think it was the only one that was on that Sunday.
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that sunday afternoon but uh it was the last game of that season and drew breeze i think in the final quarter of the game oddly enough he tore his labor trying to pick up a fumble and
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uh he was hit by ironically the the uh current gm of the san francisco
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49ers but he was the safety at the time for the broncos john lynch hit him
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And the ball came loose.
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He went to dive on the ball and he landed wrong.
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And then somebody landed on top of him with his arms scratched.
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I trust I remember it vividly.
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And I'm like,
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oh,
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he's done.
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Immediately,
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I said immediately.
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And oh,
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my God,
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it was brutal.
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It was brutal.
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And of course,
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he had to get surgery to repair that torn limb room and just made the decision.
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Oh,
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so simple.
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for the san diego chargers because think about at that point drew breeze was having his his best career year as a charger he was lighting it up lighting it up putting all the pressure on the chargers and
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boom that happened last game of the season and it was it was it was over and so um after the season the chargers did offer breeze a contract oddly enough
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They offered him a five-year,
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$50 billion contract that paid $2 million in base salary on the first year,
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and then the rest would be based on performance incentives.
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And Drew Brees?
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graciously decline.
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So we get the free agency.
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And now at this point,
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we transfer over to the Who That Nation.
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Now,
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we know where we were at this point.
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We are one year removed from Hurricane Katrina.
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We're one year removed from Jim Haslam.
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And
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God bless him.
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For him to get that team together and play,
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you know,
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that season.
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practicing in parking lots and stuff like that and still going to play.
25:26
It was a demand.
25:29
He didn't have a chance.
25:31
Did he deserve to get fired?
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Yeah.
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Not for that season,
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but for previous seasons.
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They should have been letting him go,
25:38
to be honest with you.
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But he was living off of that one playoff win.
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That bought him about three years.
25:47
And so we made...
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two big moves this offseason.
25:53
One,
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hiring
25:56
Sean Payton as the head coach of the Saints.
25:59
And that was a head scratcher too at the moment.
26:03
I know you look at it now like yes,
26:05
of course you hire Sean Payton.
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Sean Payton was not Sean Payton back then.
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He was the offensive coordinator for Dallas.
26:14
He was on the Giants coaching staff.
26:18
He trained under
26:19
Bill Parcells,
26:20
you know,
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it's all that was there.
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And
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I just didn't think because he was such a young guy.
26:27
Now you look at him now,
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he's a little older,
26:30
a little more seasoned.
26:32
And he looks like a coach.
26:35
But when he came here,
26:37
when they first signed him,
26:38
he looked like the he looked like the ball boy.
26:40
He was a little boy when they hired him.
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And I'm like,
26:45
oh.
26:46
I don't know about this hire,
26:48
but you know,
26:49
we,
26:49
we,
26:51
around that time,
26:51
we were trying to get our lives together.
26:53
We really weren't worried about who the coach of the new all it says were.
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So they made that move.
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And then they made the biggest move that you could act actually make.
27:04
And it proven to be the greatest move in saints history,
27:08
but it wasn't as easy as placing a phone call to drew breeze and telling him to come here.
27:15
Drew breeze.
27:16
was on his way to miami he was taking his talents to south beach uh at at the time nick saban was the head coach of the miami dolphins and they had offered him a contract he would he was he was all on boy actually he was good in sign you
27:35
know to to be in miami but there was one faux pas he had to run a physical and we all know that he
27:46
is fresh off of surgery on a torn labrum and rotator cuff,
27:52
might I add.
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And so,
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of course,
27:56
he failed it.
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He failed it.
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But in typical New Orleans Saints fashion,
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and they still do it to this day,
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we didn't care.
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The Saints offered Drew Brees.
28:12
a contract with 10 million dollars guaranteed the first year and 12 million dollars optioned on the second year drew brie signed it broke shoulder and all of course yeah of course he was skeptical yeah
28:29
i mean he's like where are we gonna play we have no stadium the roof is off the dome we we i don't even know where to live right now in new orleans it's it's crazy but the total
28:42
Contract was six years,
28:44
$60 million.
28:46
Andrew Brees signed it on March the 14th,
28:48
2006.
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And my God,
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I just want to give a shout out to the training staff in Miami.
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Thank you for dropping the ball.
29:02
Thank you for not looking the other way.
29:08
Thank you for allowing this man to walk.
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clean out the door and fall right in our laps you know who they end up signing since they didn't get drew breeze they went and signed uh dante call pepper who was the former uh quarterback for the minnesota vikings and
29:28
i couldn't stand dante call because when we played the vikings he used to tear our behinds up and i hated him for it but uh
29:39
Yeah,
29:39
they signed him.
29:40
He went to Miami and just completely disappeared.
29:44
I don't know what happened to him in Miami.
29:48
I can tell you what happened to Drew Brees.
29:50
Drew Brees had his first year as a New Orleans Saints,
29:55
probably the most unexpected first year.
30:00
from a quarterback especially coming off of a torn labrum and rotator cup on his throwing arm mind you the team under first time head coach sean payton they rebound from this disastrous 2005 season when the team was unable to play in new orleans due to the damage by the hurricane and
30:22
finished that season 3 and 13 uh they went on to improve to a
30:28
10-6 record that first year and won the NFC South division title.
30:34
The Saints earned the
30:36
NFC's second seed and at the time,
30:40
that was a first round buy.
30:42
Now you only get one team from each conference with a buy but we got the first round buy,
30:50
second seed.
30:52
That meant our first game would take place in the division round.
30:57
of that season uh of that playoff run i wish it i should say and on november the
31:04
5th in a 31 to 14 victory over the tampa bay bucks he had 314 passing yards three touchdowns he earned the nfc offensive player of the week honors on november the
31:18
19th in a 31 to 16 loss to the cincinnati bangles he threw for a career high 500 it.
31:27
in 10 yards,
31:29
two touchdowns,
31:30
but three interceptions.
31:33
Drew
31:34
Brees' 510 passing yards marked a single-game franchise record and was the sixth most in a single game in NFL history at the time.
31:46
In Week 14,
31:48
in a 42-13 victory over the Dallas Cowboys,
31:51
whoo-hoo,
31:53
he had
31:54
300.
31:56
In 84 yards passing and 5 touchdowns,
31:59
and he earned his second
32:01
NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors that year,
32:04
Drew Brees threw a league-leading and franchise-record 4,418 passing yards,
32:12
finishing third in the league with 26 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions.
32:19
His passer rating was 96.2 that season.
32:24
Breeze was named...
32:25
starting quarterback for the NFC in the
32:28
Pro Bowl that season and was named to a first-team All-Pro.
32:33
On January 5,
32:34
2007,
32:37
Breeze was named first runner-up behind former teammate LeDamian Thomason in the league MVP voting.
32:45
Breeze and Thomason were co-recipients of the
32:50
Walter Payton Man of the Year Award that season.
32:54
On January the...
32:55
The 13th in his first playoff game for New Orleans,
32:58
Drew Brees went 20 for 32 on pass attempts and one touchdowns,
33:03
no interceptions against the Philadelphia Eagles in that division round of the playoffs and gave the New Orleans Saints only their second playoff victory in franchise history and calipote them for the first time in their franchise to the NFC Championship game.
33:24
against the Chicago Bears.
33:26
Now,
33:29
this is where the tide turned for that season.
33:32
I remember going by my auntie's house with my cousins,
33:36
and we all watched this game,
33:38
and we were hyped up for this game.
33:39
I knew,
33:41
I thought we had it in the bag.
33:43
I ain't going to lie to you.
33:45
I thought the Saints had it in the bag in that game.
33:48
Though he completed 27 for 49 passing attempts,
33:53
for...
33:53
354 yards and two touchdowns he did commit three costly turnovers in that game you gotta remember the Chicago Bears defense that year was oh my god it was brutal it was a brutal defense and the
34:11
Saints they were also uh pillonized a lot in that game
34:16
I think
34:17
Drew Brees had a few maybe a couple intentional grounding calls in that game
34:23
One in the end zone,
34:25
which resulted in a safety.
34:27
And
34:28
I think I remembered that call being kind of controversial.
34:33
I don't,
34:34
I could be wrong,
34:36
but it could be the bias in me,
34:39
to be honest with you.
34:40
But I remember being upset by that call.
34:43
But it wouldn't have mattered because,
34:45
unfortunately,
34:46
the Saints lost that NFC Championship game to the Chicago Bears 39-14.
34:52
Drew Brees,
34:52
he dislocated his elbow in that game too.
34:55
Well,
34:55
actually,
34:56
in the Pro Bowl.
34:57
I'm sorry,
34:57
in the Pro Bowl.
34:58
When he does,
34:59
I'm like,
35:00
man,
35:00
this dude cannot win when it comes to final games of the season.
35:07
I don't even know why he played in that game.
35:09
Forget the Pro Bowl.
35:10
But anyways,
35:12
we move on.
35:12
2007 was pretty much a wash.
35:16
The Saints finished 79 that season.
35:19
2008 was the same results,
35:22
79.
35:25
but oh my god people oh my god
35:29
2009 this was such a special year such a special season and not just for the super bowl yes the super bowl absolutely was the highlight one of the greatest highlights of my life to
35:48
be honest with you it wasn't even a super bowl for me it was the nfc championship game that was the
35:54
that's where my emotions came out i didn't get super emotional for the superbowl but i got it for the nfc championship game when uh garrett hartley made that kick in overtime i cried like a baby having the bottle yanked out of his body i never cried that hard i think i don't think i cried that hard when my dad passed away but
36:16
i cried oh my god i cried because i waited oh so long
36:23
entire literally my entire life for this moment and i had convinced myself that it was never gonna happen and it finally happened but honestly i felt something that
36:41
year early early early on in the pre-season it was a pre-season game against the i want to say the bears um i don't had a schedule in front of me,
36:52
but...
36:52
in 2009 it was the preseason game it was the first drive and of course you know the starters was in their first drive and they would it was just something that something clicked something clicked with this team and they
37:09
did no wrong now granted it was a preseason game you you're not supposed to read into them and i i don't i wasn't trying to read into that game
37:20
But it really wasn't so much of the play.
37:23
It was Drew Brees.
37:26
Drew Brees walking off the field in one of those games.
37:29
I'm telling you it was Chicago.
37:31
But he is like he turned back.
37:34
Like that was it.
37:35
That was it for his quota for the game.
37:38
And he turned around and he just waved at him.
37:41
And walked back.
37:42
He walked to the sideline.
37:43
Like,
37:43
okay,
37:44
I'm done.
37:46
I did what I came to do.
37:47
I'm done.
37:48
And it was.
37:49
that swag that that that energy that he was putting out and i in my internally i told myself we gonna do something this season never in my wildest dreams did i think i was gonna bear witness to drew brees raising his son up in the air with confetti confetti ring raining
38:11
down but i knew something special was on the horizon and you
38:18
My God,
38:19
did you get a special run from this team?
38:23
This was one of the most dominating performances from a team.
38:27
And this wasn't even the Saints'
38:29
best team.
38:30
That's the crazy part.
38:32
Their best team was in 2012?
38:39
Whenever the NOLA no-call happened that year.
38:41
I'm trying to erase it from memory because
38:44
I get PTSD from it.
38:46
But that year,
38:47
that team that season was the best team the Saints had,
38:52
you know,
38:52
on paper,
38:53
roster-wise.
38:55
They were offense,
38:57
defense,
38:57
everything.
38:58
They were a beast on the field.
39:02
That was their best team and ended up getting robbed.
39:05
But we didn't get to that yet.
39:07
In 2009,
39:10
in the first game of the season,
39:12
they played,
39:13
ironically enough,
39:15
Is this an omen?
39:16
I doubt it.
39:17
But the first game of the season,
39:19
the Saints played the Detroit Lions.
39:22
And I say that because that'll be our first game of the season this season.
39:26
But
39:27
Drew Brees set a career high and franchise tying record with not one,
39:33
not two,
39:34
not even three people,
39:35
but six touchdown passes in that game.
39:39
He was 26 of 34,
39:42
358.
39:44
yards he was surgical and of course he won the offensive player of the week for his performance uh that next week drew brees led the saints to a 48 to 22 win against the philadelphia eagles
40:00
He had 311 yards and three touchdowns in that game.
40:06
And so on.
40:07
We'll go on forever.
40:09
But the thing that got me,
40:11
and I don't want to spend too much time breaking out every single game in his career,
40:14
but that year was just amazing.
40:18
It was just amazing.
40:19
But the one that stands out got to be the Monday night football game against the New England Patriots.
40:25
Now,
40:26
the New England Patriots were the bar.
40:29
at that point and i think the saints were 11 and 0 going into that game and i remember messing with my boys and you know because none of them are saints fans and they they just haters by nature and they were like well that streak ends tonight yeah this is it tonight brady
40:45
gonna get you bella check that that's it this is it made him tap out i've never seen a game where tom brady got benched saints made that boy Thank you.
40:59
tap monday night football they tore a hole into the new england patriots i think we won that game like
41:09
40 something no what was the score of that game i know drew breeze threw like five touchdowns in that game no it was 38 to 17 38 to 17 monday night football prime time we put the world on notice we finally let the world know oh
41:26
we're here people dude
41:29
And that was the first time a Bill Belichick,
41:31
and I don't think since,
41:33
Drew Brees was the first player to have a perfect passer rating of 158.3 against a Bill Belichick coached team.
41:45
I mean,
41:46
surgical.
41:47
But anywho,
41:49
we fast forward to this epic playoff run that led to the Super Bowl.
41:55
Drew Brees,
41:57
do you realize?
41:59
and we're talking celebrating drew brees going into the hall of fame drew brees beat three hall of famers on that super bowl run kurt warner brett farb and peyton manning he made them all lay
42:15
it down he laid them out all three of them not only were are they future hall of famers at that point they're all in the hall of fame right now but they were super bowl champions
42:28
they were all super bowl winning quarterbacks and pretty much in their prime not so much kurt warner he was past his prime but everybody was still firing on all cylinders obviously because they were in the playoffs that drew they went up against drew sorry
42:47
drew ate him alive and defeated them all especially and more importantly peyton manning in the super bowl
42:57
given the Saints their one and only so far fingers crossed
43:03
Super Bowl victory the girl it was great it was amazing didn't think that was possible but then when you think about it with this quarterback we should have had eight different court I mean uh Super Bowls man there's
43:21
no reason why we did not get multiple Super Bowls now
43:27
Like I mentioned earlier,
43:28
we were robbed of one,
43:29
well actually two.
43:31
We were robbed of the NOLA no-call against the Rams.
43:34
We were robbed with that offensive,
43:38
that no-call against the
43:41
Vikings that push off in the end zone by their tight end for the winning touchdown.
43:49
We got robbed of that.
43:50
The other Vikings game with the,
43:53
oh my God,
43:54
the Stephon Diggs catch.
43:57
All that stuff.
43:59
It was just heartbreak after heartbreak after heartbreak.
44:02
I don't think the New Orleans Saints have ever,
44:06
or no other team,
44:07
has had the amount of heartbreak in a stretch like the New Orleans Saints.
44:16
I can't think of one.
44:18
But,
44:18
man,
44:19
heartbreaks.
44:20
But it's a travesty that we only managed to get one Super Bowl.
44:26
with this
44:27
Hall of Fame quarterback.
44:30
But we did stay in contention throughout.
44:33
We stayed in the playoffs.
44:37
We almost made it the final year.
44:40
In his final year,
44:42
which was the pandemic year,
44:43
2020,
44:45
the Saints made it to the playoffs.
44:47
They met the Chicago Bears in the wild card round.
44:51
Drew Brees,
44:52
he threw for 265 yards and two touchdowns in that win,
44:56
21-9,
44:58
and went on to the division round to play their division rivals,
45:03
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
45:04
Now,
45:05
the Saints had already swept the Buccaneers in the regular season,
45:10
and Drew Brees is coming off of an injury.
45:13
He,
45:13
you know,
45:14
it's a miracle he did what he did against Chicago.
45:17
And in this game,
45:19
going head-to-head again against Brady,
45:21
In one of those games,
45:22
he didn't play in the regular season against Tampa.
45:26
He had that,
45:27
I forgot what injury he had.
45:30
But anyways,
45:31
he had an injury and Taysom Hill put foots in him.
45:38
That was the game they just ran Taysom Hill down their throat.
45:44
But not in this game.
45:46
Not in this game.
45:47
Drew Brees,
45:49
he had 100 in.
45:50
34 yards passing,
45:52
one touchdown,
45:54
and he threw three intercepts.
45:56
Even with that,
45:57
the Saints still had a chance.
45:58
It was still a close game.
46:03
That was heartbreaking because you saw that was it for Drew.
46:07
And I think the worst thing about it was you don't want to see Drew Brees.
46:12
You didn't want to see Drew Brees go out like that.
46:16
And granted,
46:17
up to this point,
46:19
I will.
46:21
I'm guilty of this.
46:23
I said,
46:23
man,
46:23
it's time for him to go.
46:24
I was saying that the previous year.
46:27
Man,
46:27
it's time for Drew to go.
46:29
You can tell Drew Brees was losing.
46:31
He didn't have that same zip on the ball.
46:33
He didn't have that same accuracy.
46:36
And now,
46:36
granted,
46:37
the talent around him wasn't the greatest,
46:40
but Drew Brees is such a great player.
46:44
He makes mediocre players look great,
46:47
you know?
46:48
Marcus Colston wouldn't have worked out anywhere else.
46:50
Marcus Colston is phenomenal as a New Orleans Saints receiver.
46:54
I love him and miss him,
46:56
bro.
46:56
He was money in New Orleans,
46:58
but that was with Drew.
47:00
I don't think he could do that with anybody else.
47:02
The only player I felt that could stand out without Drew Brees was Michael Thomas.
47:07
Other than that,
47:08
I don't think anybody else would stand out as much.
47:14
I mean,
47:14
think about it.
47:15
Robert Meacham.
47:16
Robert Meacham went on.
47:18
I forgot where he went.
47:19
Didn't he go to San Diego?
47:20
I think he ended up going to the Chargers and just disappeared,
47:24
faded into the ether.
47:27
Who else was there?
47:28
It was everybody who left.
47:31
Jimmy Graham.
47:32
Jimmy Graham was nothing after he left because he didn't have Drew,
47:38
you know?
47:40
So it was a struggle.
47:43
But my God,
47:44
man,
47:44
to see him go out like that.
47:46
dead.
47:46
I wasn't wishing for that.
47:48
And especially losing to Tampa and losing to Tom Brady.
47:54
It was hurtful.
47:55
It really really hurt.
47:57
And everybody in the Houdet Nation and around the world really knew that this was it.
48:02
This was the last game.
48:04
He was blowing kisses going off the field.
48:07
You knew that that was it.
48:09
That was him tipping his hat to everybody.
48:12
And he made it official on Thank you.
48:15
ironically march the 14th 2021 why is that ironic because he signed with the team on march the 14th 2006 and so uh after 15 years to
48:31
the date drew breeze he signed his first contract with the saints and he announced his retirement after 20 seasons and the drew breeze uh era comes to an end
48:44
here are some of his career highlights awards and honors that he collected over his 20 years in the nfl uh of course he was the super bowl champion of super bowl 44 he was also the super bowl mvp of
49:00
that game he was nfc champion that season seven time nfl passing yards leader uh four time NFL passing touchdown leader.
49:13
two-time nfl passing passer rating leader six-time nfl completion percentage leader total quarterback rating leader of 2009 13-time pro bowler
49:30
25-time afc and nfc offensive player of the week honors five-time nfc offensive player of the month honors four-time
49:42
FedEx Air Player of the Year,
49:45
first team All-Pro in 2006,
49:49
four times,
49:50
second team All-Pro,
49:51
two times.
49:53
NFL Offensive Player of the Year.
49:55
He also was the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year in 2010.
50:01
The Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year in 2010.
50:07
The Mark Bell
50:08
Award in 2009.
50:12
The Art Rooney Award in 2018.
50:15
The NFL PA
50:16
Alan Page Community Award in 2012.
50:23
The P...
50:23
what the pfwa good guy award in 2010 also the george hollis award in 2007 the walter payton man of the year award in 2006 the nfl comeback player of the year award in 2004 and the pro football
50:45
hall of fame this coming saturday if you notice he never won league mvp
50:53
That is the one thing.
50:55
I don't know if it bothers him,
50:57
but it definitely bothers me because he should have won in
51:02
2009.
51:06
In 2009,
51:08
he had...
51:08
You can't match those stats.
51:10
I don't know how.
51:12
I honestly don't know how he did not win in 2009.
51:17
He actually should have had a couple...
51:19
It was a couple of seasons where he was the...
51:22
flat out winner in my eyes and it wasn't because i had on black and gold goggles he was the best player on the field but uh his records that still right now stand i think i think they still stand but
51:38
at the time when he did it these were the records of the most passing touchdowns in a season uh a single game i should say with seven that's tied with seven other players but he's one of them seven.
51:51
Best passer completion percentage in a Seagull game with 74.4%.
51:58
That was in 2018.
52:02
Most 5,000-yard seasons.
52:04
Five.
52:06
Five times he threw for over 5,000 yards.
52:09
The most consecutive games with a touchdown pass.
52:13
54 consecutive games.
52:15
That's what,
52:16
two and a half seasons?
52:18
Three and a half seasons?
52:19
I think.
52:19
three and a half seasons something like that something crazy like that that's that's ridiculous uh most seasons leading the league with passer completions six six times he led in completion percentage uh most season most
52:37
seasons as a passing yards leader seven yards per game in a single game a single season uh his average three hundred and
52:50
42.3 that was in to a douse the audacity year that uh 2013 uh he actually tied that though he tied that with peyton manning i think peyton manning went on to win mvp that season but should
53:05
have been drew anyways uh and most past completions in a single game or season uh that was 29.4
53:18
That was his completions per game in 2016.
53:22
Now,
53:22
when it comes to New Orleans Saints franchise records,
53:27
I mean,
53:28
what was the other competition?
53:29
Bobby Abert?
53:32
That's not a high bar to clear,
53:34
but
53:35
I'll acknowledge all of his records as a New Orleans Saint.
53:39
Of course,
53:39
he's the passing yard leader.
53:41
He's the passing yard single game.
53:46
passing touchdowns career,
53:48
passing completions for his career,
53:51
passing completions for a single game,
53:53
pass attempts,
53:54
pass attempts in a single game.
53:56
It goes on and on.
53:57
It's getting redundant,
53:59
but you get my drift.
54:01
The man was phenomenal.
54:04
His final total of his career passing-wise,
54:10
Drew Brees,
54:11
was 7,142 completions.
54:16
off of 10,551 attempts.
54:21
That is a 67.7 completion percentage.
54:26
Total yardage,
54:27
80,358 total yards in his career.
54:35
He threw 571 touchdowns in his career.
54:41
243 interceptions,
54:45
but we'll look.
54:45
past that.
54:46
He had a quarterback rating overall for his entire career that's in San Diego and in
54:51
New Orleans of 98.7.
54:56
I know here in the Who Dat Nation,
54:58
it's without a doubt that Drew Brees is the greatest quarterback to ever don the black and gold.
55:06
That's a no-brainer.
55:07
Anybody can see that.
55:08
Ray Charles can see that.
55:09
Stevie Wonder can see that.
55:11
But in my humble opinion,
55:14
Drew Brees is one of the greatest quarterbacks to wear any uniform.
55:19
He is one of the greats.
55:21
I'm not saying he's the great,
55:23
but he is definitely one.
55:26
of the greatest and rightfully so uh deservingly so entering the pro football hall of fame congratulations to drew breeze congratulations to the hood at nation i believe this is our fifth new
55:43
orleans saint to enter the hall of fame who we got willie roe ricky jackson uh sam mills did sam mills get in i think he did and it was somebody else you
55:56
I could be off,
55:57
but I could be off by one.
55:59
But now we got Drew Brees.
56:00
We know that for certain.
56:02
I want to know,
56:03
what is your greatest Drew Brees memory?
56:06
I have so many.
56:09
I think back,
56:11
like I told y'all before,
56:13
that preseason game before the Super Bowl,
56:15
on that Super Bowl season,
56:17
when Drew Brees gave the wave to the opposing team and just had that swag.
56:24
that that moment was awesome the moment against the atlanta falcons when he spent off the two two falcon players and dove in for the touchdown that was epic the the miami dolphin game in
56:40
uh i think it was the super bowl year when we were getting up behind yeah because ricky jackson was on that team and we were getting up behinds whip and at halftime sean payton was going to kick the Field goal and Drew Brees was like,
56:53
no.
56:54
no we're going for it and uh we're gonna score and Sean Payne said you're better and they went and he went out there and dove over the top and scored and in the second half the game changed and we end up winning that game uh
57:11
what's the other moment it's so many but man I miss him
57:16
I miss him and I think that's part of the problem in the who that nation.
57:22
No matter who we bring in at quarterback,
57:24
we're going to compare them to Drew Brees,
57:27
and that is not fair.
57:29
That is not fair to that young man.
57:32
Whatever young man it may be.
57:34
Tyler Shuck,
57:36
Jake Hayner,
57:37
Spencer Rattler,
57:38
the Pillsbury Doughboy.
57:39
It doesn't matter.
57:41
You can't compare them to Drew Brees.
57:45
Nobody can.
57:46
Drew Brees couldn't live up to Drew Brees.
57:51
He is...
57:52
Because once he started to fade in the latter part of his career,
57:55
the last two seasons,
57:58
we were like,
58:02
eh.
58:02
We were ready to get,
58:03
like,
58:03
this ain't Drew.
58:04
Something ain't right,
58:05
you know?
58:05
So it's hard to live up to that standard of greatness,
58:09
man.
58:12
That is not right.
58:13
So we need to just accept people who they are,
58:16
accept Tyler Shuck for what he gives me,
58:20
you know?
58:21
and hopefully it's something good.
58:23
I just need you to be solid.
58:25
I don't need you to be Drew Brees.
58:27
I just need you to be solid.
58:29
But when Drew Brees was on the field,
58:32
I never felt we were going to lose a game,
58:34
even though he lost quite a few.
58:38
He lost a few.
58:39
But
58:40
I always knew we were in it.
58:42
At no point did I feel like we were going to lose.
58:45
You know?
58:46
It wasn't until four zeros popped up on the...
58:50
scoreboard did I know that we were going to lose,
58:53
if we were going to lose that game per se.
58:55
But while the game is running,
58:58
I knew we had a chance because number nine was on the field.
59:01
And those were some marvelous times,
59:05
man.
59:05
I mean,
59:07
that 15-year or
59:10
14-year run was,
59:13
I mean,
59:14
as a fan,
59:15
the greatest run.
59:17
in Saints history even though 79 seasons we we still had fun Drew Brees was still out there giving it his all no matter what and love him miss
59:32
him and congratulations rightfully rightfully deserved like I said what's your favorite Drew Brees moment do you miss Drew Brees do you feel he's one of the greatest or do you think he's the greatest
59:46
of all time.
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I would like to know your thoughts.
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1:00:08
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If you're listening on Apple Podcasts,
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1:00:15
you are currently listening to the Who Dat Say Podcast here on the KB Radio.
1:00:22
Network,
1:00:23
everybody,
1:00:23
thank you for joining me as we went over the career of the great
1:00:29
Drew Brees.
1:00:30
Congratulations once again to the GOAT.
1:00:33
I want you all to know we will be back when the football season starts.
1:00:38
We're going to be back.
1:00:40
We're even going to go over the preseason,
1:00:41
people.
1:00:43
The first preseason game is August the
1:00:46
15th against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
1:00:49
We will recap.
1:00:50
that game after it goes final so for all of you who that's out there in the who that nation come back because football is back and i'm so happy it is because now i can scream at the top of my lungs and people are not gonna look at me crazy when i say who
1:01:08
that