Payton and Brees, стр. 79
In 2009, Brees led the Saints to a 13–0 start, making them just the seventh team in NFL history to go unbeaten in their first 13 games, but was one-upped by Peyton Manning, who led the Indianapolis Colts to a 14–0 start, just the third team in league annals to enjoy just a spectacular start.
In 2011, Brees had the best statistical season of his career, passing for an NFL-record 5,476 passing yards, 46 touchdowns, and a then NFL-record 71.2 completion percentage. But Aaron Rodgers won MVP after producing the greatest passing season in NFL history, throwing 45 touchdowns and only six interceptions while posting a league-record 122.5 passer rating.
In 2018, Brees led the league in completion percentage (74.4), passer efficiency rating (115.7), game-winning drives (seven), and fourth-quarter comebacks (six) but was beaten out by Mahomes, who became the second quarterback in NFL history to throw for 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns in a season.
The MVP award remains the lone missing honor in Brees’ otherwise illustrious résumé. He has won nearly every other major individual honor in his distinguished career: 13 Pro Bowl invitations, two NFL Offensive Player of the Year awards, and the Super Bowl XLIV MVP award. He was the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year in 2004, the Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2006, the Bert Bell Award winner in 2009, and Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year in 2010.
“As crazy as it sounds, I think Drew is one of the most underrated quarterbacks ever,” said Taysom Hill, who spent time with Rodgers in Green Bay before joining the Saints in 2017. “What he has done week in, week out, year in, year out, is really, really special. I don’t think he gets as much credit as he deserves.”
Statistically, Brees is peerless. He has more passing yards, touchdowns, and completions than any quarterback in NFL history, the first and only quarterback to simultaneously hold those three milestones since Baugh (1937–52). Brees was the fastest quarterback ever to reach the 50,000-, 60,000-, and 70,000-yard thresholds. He’s the all-time leader in completion percentage, and he has the most consecutive seasons of both 4,000 and 5,000 passing yards and most consecutive seasons with both at least 20 and 30 touchdown passes. In the history of the NFL, there have been 12 seasons where a quarterback has topped 5,000 passing yards. Brees owns five of them.
“Yes, Super Bowls and wins matter, but when you break down the quarterback position, the No. 1 job is to throw the football to a receiver in the right spot at the right time that gives the receiver the best chance to advance the ball for the offense,” Luke McCown said. “And nobody’s done that single thing better than Drew Brees in all of football.”
Before joining Payton’s staff as linebackers coach from 2017 to 2019, Mike Nolan spent most of his first three decades in the NFL as a defensive coordinator, preparing game plans to try to slow down the league’s top quarterbacks. In Nolan’s mind, two quarterbacks stand above the rest: Brady and Brees.
“Drew has got to be listed with the all-time greats, if not the guy,” said Nolan, who coached on the Denver Broncos staff in 1987 and 1988 when future Hall of Famer John Elway was the quarterback and is now the defensive coordinator with the Dallas Cowboys. “And I’m not just saying it because I [was] a Saint. I think he would compete with Tom Brady in the discussion as the best ever. I love [Peyton] Manning to death, but Manning never really was the problem that Tom and Drew have been from a [defensive] coordinator’s standpoint. He was great. He was a 9 on the problem scale of 10. Drew and Tom, those guys were 10s.”
Optics are part of the problem for Brees. His teammates and coaches say he executes so efficiently, he makes the job of playing NFL quarterback look easy. His greatness is more nuanced than that of big-armed peers like Favre, Marino, or Patrick Mahomes. In that way, Brees is like the NFL’s version of Greg Maddux. He’s a superstar without superpowers, a 6’0” Everyman, who succeeds by “painting the black” in his passes rather than blowing away opponents with his overpowering fastball. To fully appreciate Brees’ genius requires a sophisticated football mind.
“When you watch Aaron Rodgers run around the backfield for 25 seconds and throw a 70-yard pass across his body on the money for a touchdown, that play is easy for the casual fan to appreciate,” Zach Strief said. “There’s a wow factor. That kind of play has more impact on your opinion of that player than any amount of flawlessly executed passes in an offense in rhythm over the course of four quarters. Drew throws 35 passes in a game and all 35 of them are within two feet of where they were intended to be. You will walk away from that game going, ‘Man, that guy is efficient.’ But you don’t necessarily walk away going, ‘That guy is a freak of nature.’ Now in reality, he is absolutely a freak of nature. But the flash is not there for him.”
Consequently, Brees’ game doesn’t make great creative currency for social media. GIFs and memes of his highlights rarely go viral. In a day and age where sizzle often trumps substance, the subtlety of Brees’ talent can be grossly underappreciated. But among quarterbacks, Brees is not just respected. He is revered.
“He’s clearly the best quarterback I’ve been around,” said Brunell, who played behind Favre in Green Bay to start his career. “He’s the most professional guy I’ve been around, too. He does everything very, very well. It’s not just one aspect of being a quarterback. He’s good at everything: the locker room, off-the-field, his study habits, his work ethic,