Drew Brees is an all time great quarterback, but he's much more than that. Brees entering the Pro Football Hall of Fame is a great time to reflect on the former New Orleans Saints quarterback's career and legacy. His influence touches so many different areas that his legacy will look different depending on who you ask, but Brees will go down in history as one of the biggest overachievers and ultimate underdogs.
Brees' accomplishments on the field are endless. He retired as the most prolific passer in the history of the game and no one has, or likely will ever, come close to the amount of 5000 yard passing seasons he's had. The prime of Brees' career was marked by the most consistently prolific seasons the league has seen and record breaking moments became regular along the way.
Locally, Brees will always be known for being the leader of the franchise through one of the city's most trying times. He along with his teammates lifted the Saints and, in turn, the city, and Brees was the face of it. During his time as the face of the franchise, he showed an infinite amount of love for the city that transcended beyond what he did between the white lines.
Drew Brees is the ultimate Underdog
Brees was never supposed to be here, and he had overcome many hurdles along the way. Not only did he clear those hurdles, Brees made them look like nothing more than speed bumps.
None of those hurdles are more documented than Brees' height. He isn't the first "short" quarterback, but he became the standard for them through his excellence. To this day, all you have to do is be six feet tall or shorter and you'll get the Drew Brees comparison at some point.
Brees' height was supposed to be a limitation that kept him from achieving this level of greatness. The same could be said about his terrible shoulder injury that led him to New Orleans' doorstep. He was given a 25% chance to play football again after the injury.
Not only did Brees play again, he hit his prime after the injury. He was a good player in San Diego, but it was with the Saints that he became a legend. And every step of the way he was doubted repeatedly.
A great example is the Saints Super Bowl victory over the Peyton Manning-led Indianapolis Colts. In celebration of the Brees' enshrinement, the NFL social media pages posted clips from Super Bowl 44. They attached the Saints' win probability each step of the way, and that win probability told a fascinating story.
In what should have been a battle of titans, the Saints' win probability dipped from just 33% to an even steeper 24% after a mere field goal deficit in the first quarter. THE FIRST QUARTER. Going into the matchup with two teams who were 13-3 in the regular season (a season in which Brees should have won MVP), the Saints were such egregious underdogs in the biggest game of the year.
In many ways, that felt like a reflection of how Brees was compared to Manning. Low and behold, Brees outdueled Manning and won Super Bowl MVP. He always had something to prove and time and time again Brees proved it.
You won't find many better. Even when so called experts doubted or obstacles stacked up, Brees answered the challenge every time.
Add us as a preferred source on Google