Forecast: Brees kept Saints from leaving town
 

Drew Brees won the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the year this week. Brees was a great choice and should have won it after the post Katrina 2006 season. When Brees’ career history is written and people debate where he belongs among the all time greats, he will have done one thing no other quarterback in NFL history has done; he kept a team from leaving town. Drew Brees kept the Saints in New Orleans. If you asked him he’d never take credit for it because he’s just too modest, Brees would tell you it was the players, Sean Payton, and the city supporting the team that kept it in New Orleans. Don’t believe it.

It was mostly Brees. The NFL is a quarterback league and if you don’t believe me just ask the Arizona Cardinals. Two years ago Kurt Warner had them at the brink of a Super Bowl title and last year they won the NFC West. Warner leaves to dance on TV and now what is Arizona? They are a smoldering crater led by a quarterback who just cast himself in the next Coors Light football commercial. In the NFL if you don’t have a quarterback you have nothing.

If Brees had gone to Miami or didn’t recover from shoulder surgery where would the Saints be? They would have drafted Matt Leinart if Brees had been a Dolphin. Leinart’s so bad Arizona cut him to let Derek Anderson lead them. Leinart as a Saint would have taken his place along side Heath Shuler and Danny Wuerffel as Sunday ruining signal callers. The only thing worse than having to watch Sean Payton find a quarterback to run his offense would have been Saints fans’ drinking on Sundays.

by Ralph Malbrough / Contributing writer
wwltv.com
Posted on December 2, 2010 at 10:02 AM

Updated today at 10:02 AM

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Forecast: Brees kept Saints from leaving town | New Orleans News, Local News, Breaking News, Weather | wwltv.com | Eye on Black and Gold

ummmmmm McKenzies

Drinking on Sunday is bad?

What you said:whatever:

Saint Drew?:)

i'll drink two dat/

I often think about this very same thing that this article said. While I am not convinced the Saints would have left town, I do believe had the Saints not landed Brees that Matt Leinart would have been the guy. It's hard to say how that would have turned out, I mean Sean Payton is a guy who can coach guys up. So to say it would have been a bad situation, kind of difficult to say. Since Leinart did have some decent coaching in Arizona, chances are the Saints would be still looking for a QB. Very decent chance that Brett Favre would have been with the Saints, who knows...

Heard Dat!

WORD!

Excellent post, but I can't agree entirely. The Saints have had some good quarterbacks in the past (Archie Manning, Aaron Brooks for a year or two). But being surrounded by inferior organizations and inferior teammates, they fell by the wayside along with their teams.

I won't deny that Drew Brees is the best quarterback in Saints history and that he has been a major force in the current success of the team. And in the team staying in New Orleans. But he has not been the only factor in the Saints' remaining in the city. An excellent organization that has hired outstanding coaches and team members, coupled with an incredibly loyal fan base, have been major factors in the Saints remaining the New Orleans Saints, rather than becoming the San Antonio Saints or the Los Angeles Saints.