Payton and Brees, стр. 82
The 2020 season went a long way toward enhancing Payton’s coaching credentials. For the first time in his coaching career, he won games without Brees under center. He was winless in three games without Brees in his first 13 seasons as a head coach, losing once when Brees was injured in 2015 and twice when the Saints rested their starters in Week 17 of the 2009 and 2018 seasons. The way Payton led and strategized the Saints to a 5–0 mark while Brees was sidelined with a thumb injury in 2019 made him a leading candidate for the 2019 NFL Coach of the Year award, an honor he won in 2006. It also validated the lucrative five-year contract extension he signed in 2019.
“Drew’s been the heart and soul of this team since he’s been here, but Coach Payton is the leader of this team,” said Taysom Hill, who has been groomed to be the eventual successor to Brees when he retires. “Everyone sees the amount of time that Coach puts into a game plan. So now you have this unique combination of Drew’s preparation, along with Coach Payton’s preparation, and as their teammate and as someone that’s playing for Coach, the last thing you want to do is let one of those guys down. So it just elevates everybody’s game. Drew and Coach make everybody around them better. It has been the best thing for my career to be there with Drew and Coach Payton.”
Back in 2006, few could have seen this coming. Brees was rehabbing an injury to his throwing shoulder so severe that only two NFL teams pursued him in free agency. And Payton’s reputation was still tarnished in some circles by his stint with the New York Giants, where head coach Jim Fassell relieved him of his play-calling duties in mid-season. But in each other, Brees and Payton found providence. Payton and his beautiful offensive mind could help resurrect Brees’ career after it was derailed in San Diego. And in Brees, Payton had the pilot to not only land the plane safely, but also to take him to places he couldn’t go in his own playing career.
Given the number of years they’ve spent together and the extensive work schedule they’ve maintained throughout their tenure, Payton and Brees very well might have worked more hours together in the same room than any head coach–quarterback tandem in NFL history.
“It’s been outstanding,” Payton said. “It doesn’t feel that long to me. It feels like the time has flown by. We both probably look at each other and see a hairline that has receded.”
The journey was an improbable one. Brees and Payton had no previous connections before 2006. They had never met before joining forces in New Orleans. But after all this time, it almost seems like it was destined for them to align in New Orleans. Together, they revived a dormant franchise and helped restore hope to a region trying to recover from one of the greatest tragedies in American history. Brees and Payton will be revered long after they leave New Orleans. Statues will be built. Brees’ No. 9 jersey will be retired. And after a decade and a half together, their names have become inseparable, their legacies inextricably intertwined.
“Drew is one of these players that’s got that gift to improve those around him through his work ethic, leadership, skill set, and playing ability,” Payton said. “There is a mental toughness to how he plays and prepares, that will to win, that work ethic, that attention to detail, that is impressive. A player new to our team comes and sees his preparation habits, that becomes contagious. As coaches, you feel that same sense of obligation to provide the best plan possible. You want him to come in the next day to say, ‘Wow. I love it.’ His approach to business, to every aspect of his life, it’s been amazing to watch. I don’t ever take it for granted.”
The serendipity of their union is not lost on either Payton or Brees. Payton could have landed the Green Bay Packers job he wanted back in 2006. Or Nick Saban could have ignored the advice of the Dolphins medical staff and made a Brees an offer he couldn’t refuse in free agency. They know things easily could have worked out differently and their careers could have veered down a completely different path.
“There’s no way I could have fathomed it would be anything like it is now to be able to work with a guy like Coach Payton,” Brees said. “I never thought that I would have had a chance to be a part of something like this.”
No one knows what the future holds or how much longer the Payton-Brees partnership will last. It’s already carried on longer than anyone expected, which might explain why Brees was prone to bouts of nostalgia during the 2019 season.
Brees was in a particularly reflective mood on the night of his record-setting performance against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 15. His epic 29-of-30 passing performance thrilled a sellout crowd at the Superdome and enthralled a national television audience on Monday Night Football.
Brees’ record-breaking touchdown pass came with 7:13 left in the third quarter of an eventual 34–7 Saints win. With his Super Bowl XLIV teammates, close friends, and family in attendance, Brees tossed touchdown pass No. 540 of his career to tight end Josh Hill to eclipse Manning in the NFL record book.
As the crowd rose from their seats and delivered a rousing standing ovation, Brees took the game ball from Hill, removed his helmet, and trotted the length of the