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The most dangerous mind in the NFL: How Drew Brees continues to defy the odds

The prolific Saints QB shows no signs of slowing down entering his 17th NFL season

by Pete Prisco
@PriscoCBS
3h ago • 11 min read

METAIRIE, La. -- Drew Brees isn't supposed to be doing what he's doing. He just isn't.

At barely 6-feet tall -- some of his New Orleans Saints teammates actually insist he's that tall when he's wearing shoes -- with a surgically repaired throwing shoulder in an arm that isn't going to knock receivers over, Brees hardly looks like the prototypical NFL quarterback. He can barely see over the line sometimes, and many times he is forced to crane his neck for any little window to see the defense.

"He looks out underneath his facemask," Saints running back Mark Ingram said. "That's so he can see."

The primary reason it all works, though, has nothing to do with the physical tools that you or I can see. It has to do with what you can't.

It's all inside his head.

Peyton Manning used to be the standard-bearer for quarterback smarts. He used to own the most-dangerous weapon in all of football: His mind.

Brees has now taken that over. His mind is the greatest weapon in football.
Doesn't it have to be, considering his physical stature?

In an era with big, strong-armed passers, guys who stand tall in the pocket, Brees has bucked the trend, becoming one of the greatest passers in NFL history in large part because of his ability to win with his head.

"Everybody has limitations, and everybody knows what their strengths are," Brees said last week during a break in training camp. "I feel like my preparation and knowing as much as I can about playing the concepts, the personnel and defense is what is going to allow me to be successful. Having a plan and knowing how to execute that plan is what equates to success. I have to rely on that. That has to be my greatest strength. What I may lack in some areas, that has to make up for it."

Brees has a sixth sense for finding the open receiver.

"Take away a sense, and the other senses have to be heighted," he said. "It's like that. I know where guys are going to be. I know where my outlet is. I develop trust and confidence in my guys that even if certain things are taken away, I have that ability to know where they are gong to be and make it work."

If the 38-year-old Brees plays three more seasons, he will almost certainly be the NFL all-time leader in yards, touchdown passes and attempts. He needs 5,830 yards to pass Peyton Manning atop the yards list. Considering Brees has five of the nine 5,000-yard passing seasons in league history, that should happen next year.



Manning also is tops in touchdown passes with 539, while Brees has 465. If he plays three more seasons, he will need to average 25 a season to get there. Brett Favre has 1,411 more pass attempts than Brees, so that will take three full seasons to break. Brees is also first all-time in completion percentage at 66.6-percent, and seventh in passer rating at 96.3.

He also has the one Super Bowl victory to go with the numbers to help validate all those numbers -- keeping him away from the vultures that would prey on him just being a stats guy.

When the numbers were mentioned to Brees, he almost had an aw-shucks reaction to being on the verge of becoming the best passer of all time -- at least in terms of raw data.

Much, much more here ...

“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” — Winston Churchill