Overtime

Future hall of famer Brees turns Saints into contenders year after year

Very few completely change the fortunes of one franchise.

Drew Brees was that athlete.

On the Thursday night before Hurricane Katrina, the Saints hosted the Baltimore Ravens.

It was a preseason game, but even for a practice game, the lack of enthusiasm in the Superdome was palpable.

New Orleans was a town with a big football problem.

Thirteen months later, football was back and the Superdome was sold out.

Running back Reggie Bush, the Heisman Trophy winner, and the second pick in the draft, had something to do with that enthusiasm.

But, Drew Brees was the constant.

With him, the Saints had unwavering consistency.

In the 39 seasons before Brees, the Saints had 20 of less than seven wins.

In the 15 since, the Saints have had zero seasons of less than seven wins.

In the 39 seasons before Brees, the Saints had five double digit win seasons. And four of those occurred in a six-year stretch from 1987 through 1992.

In the 15 seasons since, the Saints have had double digit wins nine times.

And, Brees has coattails.

Lance Moore, Pierre Thomas, Carl Nicks, Marques Colston and Bush are all outstanding players.

And, they are all Saints Hall of Famers.

They would be the first to tell you that their quarterback had something to do with that.

Drew Brees will likely be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

His head coach is certainly a candidate, too.

Talk about coattails.

Over the years, certain Brees performances stand out.

His 32 completions in 39 attempts in Super Bowl XLIV is certainly one of those.

But, a favorite is an 18 of 23 Monday night in 2009 against the Patriots.

Brees threw for 371 yards and five touchdowns.

That’s over 20 yards a completion, against the premier franchise in football.

If there was ever confirmation that the Saints were indeed Super Bowl bound, that Monday night was it.

There’s another that stands out.

In 2021, Brees was intercepted five times in a 23-13 loss in Atlanta.

He failed to throw a touchdown pass in a game for the first time in 55 games.

In the postgame interview, he handled himself with class.

It was a pretty solid moment.

2012 was part of a three-year stretch where Brees averaged 43 touchdown passes a season.

A Saints TD pass was almost routine.

With 80,000 plus yards and 491 regular season TD passes later, we can all look back and say these times were special, and they passed in the proverbial blink of eye.