Payton and Brees, стр. 75

Brees is still wired to compete. The drive that fueled his ascension from an overlooked high school prospect and NFL Draft afterthought to the top of his profession still burns hot in his belly. The competitor in Brees wants to make another Super Bowl run. Legacy matters to him. Winning titles has always motivated him more than breaking records. He won a state championship in high school, a Big Ten championship in college, and a Super Bowl title with the Saints. And he knows the Saints roster is loaded with several Pro Bowl talents in their primes. He also knows he’s still playing well enough to lead the team back to the Promised Land.

“Once you get to your late thirties, that’s when everybody starts telling you the end is near,” Brees said. “And I’m like, “No, it’s not. We’re just going to push this thing back as long as we want.’ The longer you play, I feel like experience and wisdom can take you a long way, especially at the quarterback position. There’s not much that we see on a weekly basis that we haven’t seen before. You kind of know the type of game it’s going to be, and as long as you can keep your physical traits at a level where you’re able to play at a high level, [and] combine that with where you are mentally with the game, with all the experience and wisdom. I think that just allows you to maintain your prime for longer and longer.”

Through his army of consultants and specialists, Brees stays on the cutting edge of advances in nutrition, conditioning, and training. He practices the latest recovery techniques to keep his body in top form during the season.

“We’re so much more knowledgeable now than we ever have been in regard to recovery and how to take care of your body and diet and all of those things,” he said. “I feel like each and every week should be better than the last week and each and every year should be better than before. It’s not just maintaining. It’s improving, constantly improving.”

Brees and longtime trainer Todd Durkin have tweaked his workout regimen in recent years to address potential problem spots. He’s focused heavily on his core strength and added fascial stretch therapy to his routine.

Physically, Brees is as fit and strong as ever, Durkin and House said. That’s why Durkin believes when Brees eventually hangs up his cleats it will be because he hits a wall mentally rather than physically. No one invests more into a Saints season than Brees. To play at an elite level at his age requires an extraordinary mental and physical expense. Teammates nearly half his age still marvel at his drive and mental stamina. His aging body requires more recovery work than ever. His free time during game weeks is limited to the times he flies to a road trip or coaches one of his kids’ flag football games. The football nerd in Brees loves the process, but the father, husband, and family man in him is conflicted by it.

Brees has steadfastly maintained that he will continue to take his career one year at a time. He believes he can still compete at a high level. And while he thinks he can keep going, he also knows there will come a time when he simply wants to walk away.

“There’s definitely a process that takes place when you think about this,” Brees said. “It’s not like you just wake up one day and decide you want to retire.… When I walk away, I don’t want it to be because I can’t play the game anymore because there’s 32 teams saying, ‘All right, see ya later.’ I want it to be on my own terms first. And I want it to be because I just want to spend more time with my family. I’m ready for that next chapter. When that time comes, I’ll know.”

And when that time does arrive, Brees believes his relationship with Payton will change, as well. As close as Brees and Payton are on the field, they don’t get to see each other as often as they would like outside the Saints facility. But that has more to do with circumstance than preference.

As the crow flies, they live only a mile apart from each other in the historic Uptown neighborhood of New Orleans. Yet, despite their close living proximity, Brees and Payton rarely see each other outside the Saints offices. Once they leave the training facility in suburban Metairie, their lives often go separate ways.

The rare times Brees and Payton do socialize, it’s usually to squeeze in dinner or a concert or a round of golf. Brees and his family have visited Payton at his beach house in Florida. They also watched the College Football Playoff National Championship Game with Payton in his suite at the Superdome.

But those times are fewer and farther between these days because of Brees’ growing family and myriad business interests. Plus, he spends his offseasons in Del Mar, California, where he has maintained a residence since his playing days with the Chargers.

Payton also is on the go a lot, relaxing at his second home in the Florida panhandle or visiting his son, Connor, in Texas, or daughter, Meghan, in California.

“It’s hard,” Brees said. “There’s not a lot of time. During the season, he lives here [at the office], and when I’m not here I’m with my family.

“Once I’m done playing, there’ll be a different type of relationship between us. I think there’ll be even more of a friendship than there is now. Because right now there is that line of player/coach and I get that. Certainly, he’s a guy who changed my life by bringing me here, and there’s a genuine appreciation certainly that I have for him for believing in me and giving me this opportunity.”

Dome-ination:

2019 Indianapolis Colts

During his three decades as an NFL player