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By Mike Triplett, The Times-Picayune
December 31, 2009, 4:18PM

Another year, another shot at history for Drew Brees.

The Saints quarterback is on pace to break the NFL record for completion percentage in a single season, which has stood for nearly 30 years.

Heading into Sunday's regular-season finale at Carolina, Brees has completed 70.62 percent of his passes (363 of 514). The league mark of 70.55 percent was set by Cincinnati's Ken Anderson in 1982.

When asked about it Thursday, Brees knew the number down to the decimal point.

"I know it because when I was a rookie quarterback in San Diego, I looked up all the records," Brees said. "I just wanted to know 'em. And so I knew 'em all by heart there for a while."

Brees admitted that the completion percentage record isn't as "obvious" as, say, Dan Marino's single-season mark of 5,084 yards, which Brees threatened last season.
But he said it's still a "unique" accomplishment that he and his teammates would take great pride in.

"I can't necessarily say that you start the season off and you say, 'I want to break the completion record this year,'" Brees said. "But it's an NFL record and one that hasn't been broken since the early '80s. That's a big deal. Any passing record like that is a big deal."

Brees wound up 15 yards short of Marino's record last year, finishing with 5,069 yards. But he did set the NFL record for most completions in a season, with 440.

This record is a different beast, though, because it's based on a percentage. One bad game on Sunday, and he might drop himself out of the top 10.

"You can have this record, and then it can be taken away," Brees said, comparing it to his baseball hero Ted Williams' pursuit of the .400 batting average.

Brees said he's not about to let that affect his performance in Sunday's game, though - even though it's technically a "meaningless" game for the Saints, who have already clinched the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

Brees isn't expected to play the entire game, and he might even be limited to just one or two series.

"Listen, I'm going to do whatever I'm asked to do and whatever can help this team," said Brees, who brought up the final play of last season against these same Panthers, when the Saints needed a miracle touchdown to win. "Hey, I could have taken a 15-yard completion last year to break that record, but I wanted the win."

Chances are, though, that someone in the Saints' coaching booth will have a calculator handy. And if possible, Brees won't likely leave the game if he falls one or two completions behind the record.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees on pace to set NFL record for completion percentage | New Orleans Saints Central - - NOLA.com

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