Drew Brees retired at 41. Tom Brady is still going strong at 45.
But Brees, now 43, says he’d still be playing, if he hadn’t suffered a serious shoulder injury during his final game with the Chargers, at the end of the 2005 season.
“If my arm wasn’t put together with 13 anchors, I’d play until I was 45,” Brees told Rob Maaddi of the Associated Press. “And here’s Tom [Brady] doing it because it takes a lot of commitment and sacrifice and not everybody could do it.”
The shoulder injury, which Brees overcame to become one of the most accomplished passers in league history, ultimately kept Brees from throwing the ball deep.
“It became a great struggle to be healthy enough to go out there and really perform at the highest level just with the limitations that I had,” Brees said. “I could dice you up inside of 40 yards all day long. But it became it harder and harder to do things downfield.”
He nearly returned late last season, when COVID and injuries forced the Saints to use Ian Book against the Dolphins on a Monday night. Brees ultimately chose not to do it.
This year, Saints fans have been clamoring for Brees to return. In their first season without Brees or Payton since 2006, things haven’t been the way they were in the heyday of one of the best quarterback-coach partnerships the league has ever seen.