Age: 27
6th
season in pro football, 1st with Saints
College: Purdue
Height: 6’0” Weight: 209
Prelude:
Chosen by the
San Diego Chargers in the second round of the 2001 NFL 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, but he 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.
2006 Season Summary
Appeared in
all 16 games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]
Passing
Attempts – 554
[5]
Most
attempts, game – 52 vs. Cincinnati 11/19
Completions –
356 [4]
Most
completions, game – 37 vs. Cincinnati 11/19
Yards – 4418
[1]
Most yards,
game – 510 vs. Cincinnati 11/19
Completion
percentage – 64.3 [5]
Yards per
attempt – 8.0 [4]
TD passes – 26
[3, 1st in NFC]
Most TD
passes, game – 5 at Dallas 12/10
Interceptions
– 11
Most
interceptions, game – 3 vs. Baltimore 10/29, vs. Cincinnati 11/19
Passer rating – 96.2 [3, 1st in NFC]
Passer rating – 96.2 [3, 1st in NFC]
500-yard
passing games – 1
300-yard
passing games – 8
200-yard
passing games – 10
Rushing
Attempts – 42
Most
attempts, game – 6 (for 9 yds.) at Tampa Bay 11/5
Yards – 32
Most yards,
game – 14 yards (on 4 carries) at Pittsburgh 11/12, (on 3 carries) vs. San
Francisco 12/3
Yards per
attempt – 0.8
TDs – 0
Postseason: 2
G
Pass attempts
– 81
Most
attempts, game – 49 at Chicago, NFC Championship
Pass
completions – 47
Most
completions, game – 27 at Chicago, NFC Championship
Passing
yardage – 597
Most yards,
game – 354 at Chicago, NFC Championship
TD passes – 3
Most TD
passes, game – 2 at Chicago, NFC Championship
Interceptions
– 1
Rushing
attempts – 4
Most rushing
attempts, game – 3 (for -2 yds.) vs. Philadelphia, NFC Divisional playoff
Rushing yards
– 6
Most rushing
yards, game – 8 at Chicago, NFC Championship
Average gain
rushing – 1.5
Rushing TDs –
0
Awards & Honors:
1st
team All-NFL: AP, PFWA, Sporting News
Pro Bowl
Saints went 10-6
to finish first in the NFC South while leading the NFL in total yards (6264)
and passing yards (4503). Won NFC Divisional playoff over Philadelphia Eagles
(27-24). Lost NFC Championship to Chicago Bears (39-14).
Aftermath:
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. He had another Pro Bowl year in ’08 in which he led the NFL in
passing yards (5069), TD passes (34), pass attempts (635) and completions
(413). Brees went to the Pro Bowl for the third straight year, and fifth
overall, in 2010 after throwing for 4620 yards and 33 touchdowns and leading
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 with 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. New Orleans rebounded in 2013 and
Brees led the NFC with 5162 passing yards and 39 TD passes. He topped the NFL in
passing yards for the fifth time in 2014 (4952) and tossed over 30 TD passes
for the seventh consecutive year (33). Overall through 2014, Brees has
completed 66.2 percent of his passes for 57,337 yards and 402 touchdowns and
has been selected to nine Pro Bowls, including a string of seven
straight.
--
Highlighted Years features players who were consensus
first-team All-League* selections or league* or conference** leaders in the
following statistical categories:
Rushing:
Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Passing:
Yards, Completion Pct., Yards per Attempt, TDs, Rating
Receiving:
Catches, Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Scoring: TDs,
Points, Field Goals (min. 5)
All-Purpose:
Total Yards
Defense:
Interceptions, Sacks
Kickoff
Returns: Average
Punt Returns:
Average
Punting:
Average
*Leagues
include NFL (1920 to date), AFL (1926), AFL (1936-37), AAFC (1946-49), AFL
(1960-69), WFL (1974-75), USFL (1983-85)
**NFC/AFC
since 1970
