The Drew Brees story takes its next step in Ohio on Saturday with his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Brees’s story is one of overcoming, and overcoming on his way to great success.
While “everything is bigger in Texas,” Brees’s home state, that wasn’t true of the soon-to-be gold jacket wearer, who stood at just six feet tall and just over 200 pounds in a time when quarterbacks were always 6’3” or taller with more girth. In a state where football is closer to a religion than a sport, in high school, Brees once thought about quitting football and focusing on baseball as his path forward.
Instead of giving up the sport, an injury to the starting quarterback led him to high levels of success before another hurdle: a torn ACL and MCL late in his junior season. Brees was able to return for his senior season, winning a state title and the biggest awards, but his size and injury led him to be recruited by just two schools, Purdue and Kentucky, despite all of his success.
Not exactly college football powerhouses, but even that was fitting for the Brees story.
Brees chose the Boilermakers as a part of Joe Tiller’s first recruiting class in 1997. Heading into that season, Purdue had 12 straight seasons of losing records. Not only losing records, but only one of those years did the Boilermakers win at least five games. During Brees’ four-year tenure, three as the full-time starter, Purdue strung together four straight winning seasons, with four bowl game appearances, including two Alamo Bowl victories and a Rose Bowl appearance.
In a different era than we see today, Brees was lighting up the box score in the Big 10 like a pinball machine. In three years as the starter, Brees completed over 60% of his passes (leading the conference twice), while throwing for over 3,300 yards each year (leading the conference all three seasons). Tossing (a lot) of touchdown passes to guys named Vinny Sutherland, John Standeford, Chris Daniels, Tim Stratton, and Isaac Jones, Brees was the engine that made things work at Purdue.
Despite his unusually small size for the position, Brees’ success led him to the then-San Diego Chargers, being selected with the top pick in the second round of the 2001 NFL draft.
While some fans only remember Brees as a part of the New Orleans Saints franchise, his four years as a starter in five seasons in San Diego saw a lot of success. After an 8-8 record in his first year as a starter, Brees led the Chargers to two winning seasons in his final three, throwing for over 12,000 yards as a part of the San Diego franchise.
In those four years, Brees proved that he could overcome his limited height and size to become a successful NFL quarterback. Then, in the 2005 regular season finale, this play led to a dislocated shoulder, a 360-degree tear of his labrum, and the most shoulder anchors ever used in a surgery at that time.
With another obstacle to overcome, Brees entered NFL free agency after having his throwing shoulder put back together with a major surgery. Much like his college recruitment, despite a proven track record, Brees was back to having only a few options for where to play.
Infamously, at least down in South Florida, the Miami Dolphins backed away from their pursuit of Brees due to their concerns about his shoulder’s health. That is when the Saints swooped in, with the backdrop of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, to recruit Brees to help lift their downtrodden franchise in the same way he did Purdue.
And lift it he did.
The Saints’ 2006 return to New Orleans and Brees’ first home game for his new team, after playing away from the city the previous year, was an emotional one for everyone.
The rest, as they say, is history. Impressive history, at that.
As Brees did with the Boilermakers, the Saints started winning football games with a league-leading quarterback. Brees led the NFL in completions, completion percentage, passing yards, and passing touchdowns in multiple seasons. New Orleans had seven seasons of double-digit wins, multiple playoff appearances, and, of course, the 2009 Super Bowl championship.
Now, in the birthplace of football, Brees enters the Hall of Fame. Overcoming major injuries, his limited size, being lightly recruited, having to lift struggling teams on his shoulders (one that he now cannot even use to throw a football), and helping the City of New Orleans move forward after the devastation of Katrina, Brees cannot help but get emotional when he looks back.
In an event in Canton, Ohio, the day before he is to be enshrined, Brees talked at a Raising Cane’s restaurant about his emotions as he looks back at his career:
Brees noted to those in attendance that he’s cried no less than 50 times while writing his Hall of Fame speech, one that he promises will go longer than his allotted time. Brees started to tear up as he talked about some of the different people he would be mentioning in his speech.
Showing off his impressive memory as well as his emotional connection to his career, Brees was asked about a favorite play that he remembers well. Brees said he remembers them all. Brees then shared what one of those plays would sound like when he called it in the huddle:
Did you get all of that? Me neither.
While Brees’ story has been one of overcoming, his former head coach, Sean Payton, saw greatness in the future for a Saints team that didn’t have a lot of it. Talking about playing in the Hall of Fame game in 2007, Brees recounted Payton’s message to the team and promise of more gold jackets for players on a team whose primary color is gold:
Despite the shoulder surgery, Brees, along with fellow greats like Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, was able to compete at a high level into his 40s. While trying to patiently wait to eat some of the Cane’s chicken in front of him, Brees noted how experience was such an advantage and recounted how he’s told Los Angeles Rams QB Matthew Stafford that his best years could still be in front of him:
On Saturday, Brees enters the Hall of Football Immortals in Canton. Beyond that, Brees is still around football as a commentator and coaching his kids on the game. While overcoming obstacles has been a big part of the Brees story, perhaps he’s ready for a smooth ride for a bit. Given his history, if obstacles do pop up, we’d bet on Brees to take them on with all he has.
As for Saturday, we can expect tears and maybe lots of them: