There are certain games that never leave you, even with time. Playoff losses to the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams are those types of games for New Orleans Saints fans, and Drew Brees is no different.
Heartbreak isn't new to Saints fans. The No-Call gets the attention as the most egregious moment in recent history and is still talked about to this day. That will be something all fans of the sport talk about. Less than a decade prior, Vernon Davis' last second touchdown catch left Saints fans speechless.
There was no controversey attached to that play, and the impact didn't leave New Orleans. It's still a moment Saints fans will never forget because of the quality of that team. Brees called that 2011 team "maybe one of the best ever." That featured a record breaking offense, and felt like a team destined to make it two championships in three years.
Drew Brees' legacy was significantly hindered by those specific losses
Those are memorable losses in Saints history, but playing the what if game shows how impactful those games were to how Brees is remembered. If the Saints win that game in 2018, they clearly go to the Super Bowl. A win in 2011 put them with a home game against the New York Giants in the NFC Championship Game.
As Brees pointed out, the Saints had already beaten the Giants pretty badly earlier in the season. The final score was 49-24, and it's hard to imagine the Giants closing that gap in the Superdome with a Super Bowl on the line.
Let's say Brees makes it to two more Super Bowls and wins just one of them, he's a two time Super Bowl champion. Not only that, he would have had a Super Bowl victory over Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. Both of those potential Super Bowls would have been against the Patriots, so there was a potential for two championship wins over Brady.
People are trying to force Eli Manning into the Hall of Fame because of that exact achievement. If Brees would have accomplished it, we're talking about 3 championships, all over two of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game. That would have completely shifted how Brees is talked about.
Oftentimes, Brees is discussed with Brady, Manning and Aaron Rodgers as the defining quarterbacks of the generation. It's impossible not to, but he's also often relegated as the consensus last place. It can feel like he's an afterthought that they can't deny but will downplay as much as possible. That all changes with a second or third Super Bowl victory. It even changes a little with another appearance.
Those losses to the 49ers and Rams took away potential Super Bowls that would have lifted the Saints and Brees. This may not be the reason Brees mentioned those losses, but they had a profound yet understated impact on his long lasting legacy.