In 20 NFL seasons Drew Brees has played in 287 games, making 228 starts for the Saints from 2006 to 2020.
“Over the years, his durability and availability is quite amazing,” said Saints coach Sean Payton. “When you think of the amount of games, the amount of years you're playing that position. There is that physical wear and tear.”
Pre-2006, Brees was drafted by the then San Diego Chargers and spent his first 5 years in the league there, before a career threating shoulder injury put playing the game he loved in peril.
“Obviously his recovery, his story of overcoming an injury no one had ever had before, at the quarterback position, with a rotator cuff,” Payton cited as just once example of the never quit mentality this is a fire burning inside Brees.
“Back when he missed the Carolina game (week 3 - 2015) because of an oblique or a stomach pull. It was gut wrenching for him to throw,” Payton recalled as Brees missed just that one game that year dealing with the injury.
Coach Payton also got a firsthand taste of the pain threshold the quarterback is able to tolerate after he suffered an injury Brees was familiar with.
“He was the first one that told me about what a plantar fascia was because I really never knew what it was until I ripped mine in training camp. And then, all of a sudden, I realized how much that hurt.”
“He’s as courageous and tough a player as I have ever been around,” Payton continued. “Not only physically, but mentally. I also know, man, there is a grind mentally, a wear and tear each week of getting ready to play at that level and the level he expects himself to play at.”
The past 2 two seasons have taken the biggest toll on Brees’ body. He missed 5 games in 2019 with a thumb injury and just 4 games in 2020 with 11 fractured ribs and a punctured lung.
The future may be uncertain as we await a decision from Brees, but the mark he will leave begin on the game is legendary.
