Payton and Brees, стр. 6
Bill Parcells, who served as Payton’s mentor during their tenure together in Dallas and advised Payton to take the head coaching job in New Orleans in 2006, was famously hard on quarterbacks. But he understood their importance in the game. He even made a list of requirements for the position, a Commandments of Quarterback Play, that he maintained and followed throughout his coaching tenure:
I. Press or TV agents or advisers, family or wives, friends or relatives, fans or hangers-on, ignore them on matters of football; they don’t know what’s happening here.
II. Don’t forget to have fun, but don’t be the class clown. Clowns and leaders don’t mix. Clowns can’t run a huddle.
III. A quarterback throws with his legs more than his arms. Squat and run. Fat quarterbacks can’t avoid the rush.
IV. Know your job cold. This is not a game without errors. Keep yours to a minimum. Study.
V. Know your own players. Who’s fast? Who can catch? Who needs encouragement? Be precise. Know your opponent.
VI. Be the same guy every day. In condition, preparing to lead, studying your plan. A coach can’t prepare you for every eventuality. Prepare yourself and remember, impulse decisions usually equal mistakes.
VII. Throwing the ball away is a good play. Sacks, interceptions, and fumbles are bad plays. Protect against those.
VIII. You must learn to manage the game. Personnel, play call, motions, ball handling, proper reads, accurate throws, play fakes. Clock, clock, clock, don’t you ever lose track of the clock.
IX. Passing stats and TD passes are not how you’re gonna be judged. Your job is to get your team in the end zone and that’s how you’re gonna be judged.
X. When all around you is in chaos, you must be the hand that steers the ship. If you have a panic button, so will everyone else. Our ship can’t have panic buttons.
XI. Don’t be a celebrity quarterback. We don’t need any of those. We need battlefield commanders that are willing to fight it out every day, every week, and every season, and lead their team to win after win after win.
Payton knew how difficult it was to find a player with all of the qualities on Parcells’ list. Franchise quarterbacks are the most valued positions in the NFL. It’s why they earn CEO-like salaries in the range of $25 million to $30 million a year.
Payton knew a team could have success without a franchise quarterback in a given year, but to achieve the kind of sustained success he wanted in New Orleans, he knew he needed a special player at the position.
To find their franchise quarterback, Payton and Saints general manager Mickey Loomis considered two options: they could pursue a veteran quarterback in free agency or select a prospect with the No. 2 overall pick in the NFL Draft. Southern Cal’s Matt Leinart was considered the top quarterback available, but the brain trust knew drafting one so high was a risky proposition. Loomis was an executive in the Seattle Seahawks organization in 1993 when the club used the No. 2 overall pick in the draft to select Notre Dame quarterback Rick Mirer, who spent most of his eight-year NFL career as a journeyman backup.
The Saints preferred a veteran signal-caller, but the free-agent market was a collection of veteran journeymen like Jeff Garcia, Jon Kitna, and Josh McCown. Brees, who had made the Pro Bowl in 2004, was the most credentialed player on the market, but even he was a question mark. In the final game of the 2005 season, he suffered a 360-degree tear of the labrum, the ring of cartilage around the joint of his right shoulder, and a partial rotator cuff tear. For an NFL quarterback, it was a career-threatening injury.
Renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews repaired the labrum with 11 surgical anchors, about eight more than is common for the procedure. The San Diego Chargers, who selected Brees in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft, were leery, and they elected to make Philip Rivers their starter, sending red flags across the league about Brees’ health status.
The Chargers weren’t the only team concerned about Brees’ shoulder. His only serious suitors in free agency were the Saints and Miami Dolphins.
For obvious reasons, the Dolphins were widely considered to be the favorites for Brees’ services. They had the tradition, a sunny location, and a high-profile coach in Nick Saban, who was entering his second season in Miami.
Payton, though, was undaunted.
From his research and film study, Payton loved everything about Brees, from his on-field decisiveness, accuracy, athleticism, and quick release to his off-field intangibles—his work ethic, intelligence, leadership skills, and winning pedigree.
“He won a state championship as a high school player in Texas, and at Purdue he led his team to three bowl games and a Big Ten title,” Payton said. “Then he went to San Diego and was able to turn that program around.”
Payton aggressively targeted Brees in free agency as one of his first orders of business in 2006, even though Brees’ surgically repaired right shoulder was a major question mark. For Payton and the Saints, it was worth the risk. And as a former college coach, Payton loved a good recruiting battle. He was confident, despite New Orleans’ disadvantages at the time, he could win over Brees.
Brees, meanwhile, was drawn to New Orleans’ loyalty. While other teams were backing off, the Saints were coming after him. Their confidence in him was attractive. And post-Katrina New Orleans appealed to Brees’ and his wife, Brittany’s, civic-mindedness. They saw an opportunity to make an impact on a community that desperately needed help.
But Brees knew little about Payton, the young head coach putting the full-court press on his recruitment.
“I knew he was a first-time head coach, young, energetic, a great offensive