“I can’t think of a more resilient place than New Orleans” Drew Brees shares an emotional message for his Saints fans
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Drew Brees
When Drew Brees was a free agent in the spring of 2006, it came down to two options, the New Orleans Saints and the Miami Dolphins. The choice seemed obvious to everyone but in the end, Brees went the unconventional path and chose the Saints.
Of course, now, everyone knows the Saints for being a perennial playoff contender in the Sean Payton-Drew Brees era that brought the city its first Super Bowl win. But, before they came around, that wasn’t the story in New Orleans. The only thing the Saints were known for doing consistently was losing. Throw in the fact that New Orleans had been hit by Hurricane Katrina so recently, Miami was the perfect landing spot for Brees.
However, Brees saw things differently than people from the outside looking in. He saw a city that was in need of hope and believed he could deliver that and thought that was so much more important than himself. When announced to the team back in 2006, he said “I just felt that energy in New Orleans. From the very beginning, there was a genuine feeling that they wanted me there. They believe I can come back from this shoulder injury and lead them to a championship. They were as confident as I am, and that meant a lot.”
Brees formed an everlasting bond with the city of New Orleans and its people. He recently reflected on his time in New Orleans and shared his thoughts on the city.
Drew Brees expresses his reverence for New Orleans
Drew Brees joined ‘Sports Talk Wednesday’, a radio show that he in fact used to listen to when he was still playing and spoke about New Orleans saying “I can’t think of a more resilient place in all of America than New Orleans and the citizens of New Orleans with everything that we’ve had to endure. I’ll never forget when Sean Payton called me for the first time and said he wanted me to be his quarterback and come and be a part of this journey, that it was so much more than just football. And I think I recognized that right away in coming to New Orleans.”
Brees further added “Just being around the people and feeling their energy and their spirit,” Brees said. “Honestly, that’s what inspired us every step of the way. And it got us through some really tough times I think as a team because we always knew the city had our back. And it just made us want to win that much more for them.”
There aren’t too many examples of a player and city having a perfect relationship but Brees and New Orleans are one of the few that truly worked out, capped by a Super Bowl XLIV win in the 2009 season. This made his retirement after the 2020 season that much more emotional. Clearly, the love is still there from Brees and it certainly is reciprocated.
Also read: “That’s why you made that team,” Marcus Spears brutally trolls Dan Orlovsky in a live TV segment
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