Drew Brees is sitting pretty in his mid-40s, but his life would have looked entirely different had he gone with his initial impulse.
Drew Brees, sitting on the 2024 side of his storied New Orleans Saints career, eventually had to decline playing the game that made him who he is today. During his career that ran from 2001 until 2020, he elevated himself up with the likes of Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers, Green Bay Packers-era Aaron Rodgers, and the other best quarterbacks of the generation.
Brees now has the pleasure of asking for favors from Saints fans few could get away with. He also finds himself as the bar incoming rookies like Jake Haener hope to be compared with as they join the league.
However, he almost said no to the whole thing before it happened.
Never quit until you’re sure
Speaking in an interview on the “Going Long” podcast via the official Saints Twitter/X account, Brees claimed that he nearly quit football one week too early.
“I almost quit football my sophomore year going into my JV season. I thought I wasn’t going to get a chance to play like I was sitting behind a guy named Johnny Rodgers. … He was the starting quarterback,” he said.
“My mom picked me up from practice. She could see I was upset. … I’m like, ‘Mom, I think I’m going to quit football.’ She’s like, ‘why would you do that?’ I’m like, ‘I’m never going to play, got Johnny in front of me. He’s a stud. I’ll never see the field. Why am I wasting my time?'” he recalled.
“And she’s like, ‘you never know when your opportunity will come. So just stick it out… this season, then you can reevaluate at that time.’ And literally a week later, we played in a scrimmage going into the start of the season and Johnny tore his ACL. So now he’s out and I’m the starter. And then that was that was it,” he added.
Brees went on to play for another couple of decades, but it almost never took place. Of course, division rivals who chased Brees for 15 years might be kicking themselves over that admission.
Exploring Drew Brees’ darker Saints seasons
While most remember every Brees season with rose-tinted glasses, it wasn’t always that way. Sure, he won a Super Bowl and had a perennially dominant offense. However, there were more than a few seasons of struggle for the quarterback to grind through.
From 2012-2016, Brees won exactly seven games in four of those five seasons. His production was sky-high, throwing for 30+ touchdowns in each of those seasons, but he couldn’t get over the hump with Sean Payton.
One may compare the experience to be something similar to Joe Burrow’s struggles in Cincinnati in 2024 with explosive offense and struggling defense. Of course, Brees eventually found a greater gear in the final stretch of his career, finishing at least five games over .500 in each of his final four seasons. Now, Brees only has to wait for the Hall of Fame jacket seemingly waiting on the horizon.
