After 20 NFL seasons, Drew Brees is retiring from the NFL.
The New Orleans Saints quarterback posted an Instagram video on Sunday that featured his kids making the announcement on his behalf.
Brees, a second-round pick of out Purdue in 2001, spent the first five seasons of his career with the San Diego Chargers. However, Brees will be remembered for the decade-and-a-half that he spent with the New Orleans Saints, helping the franchise to win their first Super Bowl title, all while being one of the most accomplished statistical quarterbacks in the history of the sport.
After tearing his right labrum in his final game with the Chargers, Brees signed with the Saints, ahead of the 2006 season, after Nick Saban's Miami Dolphins famously were unwilling to pass him on his physical. Brees initially signed a six-year/$60 million deal with the Saints, but 2006 would be the first of 15 seasons in New Orleans for the future Hall of Famer, who retires as the undisputed greatest player in franchise history.
Just a year after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans - and forced the Saints to spend a season split between Tiger Stadium and San Antonio - Brees was an All-Pro for the Saints in 2006. In what was also Sean Payton's first season as head coach, the Saints went 10-6 with Brees throwing for 4,418 yards. A year after winning just three games, the Saints reached the NFC Championship Game.
Three years later, Brees led the Saints to a Super Bowl victory over Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts, 31-17. Brees was the MVP of Super Bowl XLIV, tossing two touchdowns and racking up 288 passing yards.
For as much team success as the Saints had with Brees - they went 142-86 in regular season games he started - it certainly will be frustrating that the team failed to reach a second Super Bowl with Brees and Payton together. The 2017 season ended with a walk-off loss in Minnesota, as Stefon Diggs hauled in a game-winning touchdown pass that would eventually be known as "The Minneapolis Miracle." A year later, the Saints lost in the NFC Championship Game to the Los Angeles Rams, thanks in large part to a pass interference non-call in the fourth quarter. Given that the Rams lost 13-3 to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII, many believe that the Saints would have given Tom Brady and company a better game, and perhaps even won.
Nonetheless, Brees retires as one of the five greatest quarterbacks in NFL history statistically. Brees is the all-time leader in passing yards at 80,358, making him the first - and to this point, only - quarterback in NFL history to throw for more than 80,000 yards. Brees is second to Tom Brady in NFL history with 571 passing touchdowns, 32 more than Manning, the next person on the list.
What will the 42-year-old do in a post- NFL career? Though there's been some speculation that Brees could run for public office someday, he's already signed a deal to join NBC's NFL coverage, with the belief that he could someday succeed Cris Collinsworth on Sunday Night Football.
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