With Super Bowl Win, Brees now on Legendary Path
Written by Marc Jenkins
Entering Super Bowl XLIV many around and who follow the NFL regarded Drew Brees as one of the top five quarterbacks currently in the league. He has been amongst the league leaders in the major statistical categories (completions, yards, touchdowns and completion percentage) over the past five seasons and amazed many with his explosive aerial attack however he lacked postseason wins and hardware to be considered anything but just very good; until now.
Drew Brees bringing the New Orleans Saints their first Super Bowl victory in franchise history will not only begin to place his name into conversations with some all-time greats and make him without doubt the most celebrated professional athlete in the history of Louisiana.Drew Brees’ career stats alone are truly remarkable once observed with a close eye. In just nine seasons (played one game in rookie year) Brees has completed 2,697 of his 4,164 pass attempts for 30,646 yards and 202 touchdowns with a 64.8% completion rate and a 91.9 QB Rating. He is also a four-time Pro Bowler (2004, 2006, 2008, 2009), 2008 NFL Offensive Player of the Year, three time All Pro (2006, 2008, 2009), Co-Walter Payton Man of the Year (2006), 2009 NFL MVP Runner Up and now Super Bowl Champion and MVP as well.
In the game of his life Brees had a game to remember as he rallied his team to overcome an early ten point deficit, tie a Super Bowl record for completions (32), and complete 82% of his passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns. Not to mention he has now given instant accreditation to an organization that didn’t even have a winning season until 19 seasons after they debuted in the NFL. Most importantly he has brought hope, excitement and a championship to an entire city that has been long in need of all and more post-Hurricane Katrina.
In a short amount of time Drew Brees has complied an impressive resume which includes 21 Saints franchise records, four San Diego Chargers franchise records and very respectable rankings amongst the NFL’s career leaders. He is fourth all-time in passing yards per game (251.2), tied for fourth all-time with completion percentage (64.8%), ninth all-time in QB Rating (91.9), has the second most passing yards in a single season (5,069 in 2008) and holds the all-time records for most completions in a single season (440 in 2007) and highest completion percentage in a single season (70.6% in 2009). Brees is currently 29th in career touchdown passes and 33rd in career passing yards. If he throws for at least 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns next season he will rank in the top 20 of all-time in both categories after playing just under 140 career games.
Over the past few seasons Brees has turned NFL secondary’s into his own personal playground which is why he is currently in the midst of a six-consecutive 3,000 passing yards seasons streak and a four-consecutive 4,000 passing yards seasons streak as well as the NFL leader in passing yards since 2006 (18,298 yards). Not bad for a second round pick who was just selected nine short seasons ago.
Drew Brees is just 31-years old and shows no signs of slowing down if he continues to put up the type of numbers that he has throughout his career he will have statistics up there amongst the game’s top signal callers ever. He has the team, the system and the coach around him that could even result in another ring before it is all said and done which only solidifies a quarterback’s legend.
The sky is the limit for Drew Brees and it’s all on him in terms of exactly how good he will be but a few things are already certain; he is one of just 33 quarterbacks in NFL history to pass for over 30,000 yards, he now has a ring, has delivered a title to a city that has never had one and will be the King of New Orleans for as long as he chooses to be.
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