New Orleans is all about Saints football and second chances
Brees led a successful Saints team for the next 14 years. He led the Saints to be Super Bowl XLIV Champions as well as nine playoff runs, seven division titles, and three NFC Championship game appearances.
In 2020, the NFL would be ravaged by COVID and Brees knew he would be retiring and needing a successor. In comes former Tampa Bay quarterback Jameis Winston. With a newly fixed vision and a fire to learn, Winston sat a year behind Brees. Brees taught Winston a lot of things, but the biggest thing Brees gave him was patience and love. He was passed the torch at Brees’ last playoff game against Tampa Bay in New Orleans.
Start of Something New
As the clock was winding down, Drew Brees turned to Jameis Winston and gave him some powerful words of encouragement 🙏 pic.twitter.com/3aQkxGrPUs
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 18, 2021
Winston had work ahead of him. He had a quarterback battle against Taysom Hill during the 2021 training camp. Winston led the Saints to a 5-2 record before his season-ending ACL/MCL injury. Before all of this, he faced adversity and handled it quite well.
Between Hurricane Ida and being displaced due to a fire on the roof of the Superdome, he processed the adversity and faced it, As Winston was rehabbing bigger news came on January 25, 2022 — Payton announced that he would be retiring.
After an extensive search, on February 8, 2022, the Saints decided to make one of their own the new leader. Defensive Assistant Dennis Allen would be named the new head coach. With a previously failed stint in Oakland with the Raiders, Allen has a lot to prove and needs a second chance, just like his Quarterback Winston.