Age: 29
8th season in
pro football, 3rd with Saints
College: Purdue
Height: 6’0” Weight: 209
Prelude:
Chosen by the
San Diego Chargers in the 2nd round of the 2001 draft, Brees spent a
year as backup to veteran Doug Flutie before taking over as starting
quarterback in ’02. A good first year as starter was followed by a season in
which he had difficulties, and the Chargers swung the deal that brought rookie
Philip Rivers to San Diego in 2004. Brees bounced back that year with a Pro
Bowl season in which his passer rating was 104.8. Brees badly injured his
shoulder in the last game of the ’05 season, the final year of his contract,
and with the team committing to Rivers, he signed with the New Orleans Saints.
He was a consensus first-team All-Pro and was selected to the Pro Bowl in ’06,
leading the NFL with 4418 passing yards and guiding the Saints, with a
high-powered offense, to the NFC Championship game. Brees started poorly and the
team didn’t do as well in 2007, but he recovered to lead the league in pass
attempts (652) and completions (440) while throwing for another 4423 yards.
2008 Season Summary
Appeared and
started in all 16 games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]
Passing
Attempts – 635 [1]
Most attempts, game – 58 at Atlanta 11/9
Completions –
413 [1]
Most completions, game – 39 at Denver 9/21
Yards – 5069 [1]
Most yards, game – 422 at Atlanta 11/9
Completion
percentage – 65.0 [9]
Yards per
attempt – 8.0 [3]
TD passes – 34 [1, tied with Philip Rivers]
Most TD
passes, game – 4 vs. Green Bay 11/24, vs. Carolina 12/28
Interceptions
– 17 [3]
Most
interceptions, game – 3 at Atlanta 11/9, at Tampa Bay 11/30
Passer rating
– 96.2 [4]
400-yard
passing games – 2
300-yard
passing games – 10
200-yard
passing games – 16
Rushing
Attempts – 22
Most
attempts, game - 3 (for -2 yds.) vs. Tampa Bay 9/7, (for 6 yds.) vs. Minnesota
10/6, (for -2 yds.) at Kansas City 11/16, (for -3 yds.) at Detroit 12/21
Yards – -1
Most yards,
game – 10 yards (on 2 carries) at Atlanta 11/9
Yards per
attempt – 0.0
TDs – 0
Awards & Honors:
NFL Offensive
Player of the Year: AP
1st
team All-NFL: Sporting News
2nd
team All-NFL: AP
Pro Bowl
Saints went 8-8
to finish fourth in the NFC South while leading the NFL in total offense (6571
yards), passing offense (4977 yards), scoring (463 points), and touchdowns
(57).
Aftermath:
Brees and the
Saints reached the top in 2009, with the quarterback leading the league in TD
passes (34), completion percentage (70.6), and passing overall (109.6) while
the club won the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history. In 2010,
Brees threw for 4620 yards and 33 touchdowns and led the NFL in completion
percentage (68.1). However, he also threw a career-high 22 interceptions and,
while the team qualified for the postseason as a wild card with an 11-5 record,
the Saints were upset in the first round of the playoffs by Seattle. Brees set
a new NFL record with 5476 passing yards in 2011 and topped the league in
completions (468), completion percentage (71.2), and TD passes (46). He broke
the record long held by Johnny Unitas for consecutive games with a touchdown
pass in 2012, which finally ended at 54 straight, on his way to recording a
third 5000-yard passing season (5177) and again topping the NFL in TD passes
(43) although also in interceptions (19) in a difficult year for the club both
on and off the field. Through 2012, he had completed 65.6 percent of his career
passes for 45,919 yards and 324 TDs and had been selected to the Pro Bowl seven
times.
--
[Updated 2/6/14]
