Saints Report # 14 - December 16, 2019

Drew Brees looked downfield and didn’t see anyone open.  So, he flung the ball toward Latavius Murray in the flat, and it skipped past him.  It was a terrible pass.  It was also unique because it was the only incomplete pass Brees would throw in 3 hours.  

Dr. Brees was performing a 3-hour surgery on the Mayflower Moving Van Colts, without anesthesia.  The most accurate passer in the history of football would go 29 for 30 in a stunning showcase as he finished with 22 straight completions, setting the NFL one game record with a 96.7% completion percentage.  The Saints ran away, 34-7.   

That’s the one-night story.  Then there’s the career story.   

Brees set the NFL record for Touchdowns on this night.  In fact, he did it twice, with one called back because of the kind of ticky tacky Pass Interference call that only seems to get called on the Saints.  Especially troubling that this little flick was called in the same end zone that Tommy Lee Lewis should have glided into 11 months ago.  Comparing this flick of the wrist to the near decapitation of Lewis says everything you need to know about being a Saints fan.  It’s ridiculous to think that the Superdome is haunted, but maybe, just maybe there’s this small patch of ground – we’ll call it the Zebra Triangle – where Referee judgement enters a vortex.  Come to think of it, Michael Thomas’s first touchdown was in that area and I’m pretty sure that Thomas illegally breathed on someone in the area, and the refs missed it.

Anyway, later – same end zone, but wisely on the other side, Drew tossed to a wide open Josh Hill for the 540th touchdown of his career.  If you’re a Saints fan, and privileged to see most of the 540, count your blessings.  What a treat.

And oh, by the way, it’s a tribute to Sean Payton, Mickey Loomis, and the late Tom Benson.  Professional Team sports is high turnover, quick firing trigger business, as is the car business that Benson made his fortune in.  That the Saints endured 3 straight losing seasons at 7-9 and stayed the course and just kept adding key pieces with 3 great drafts that have now netted 3 straight division titles is a lesson for every business in America.  Like the Patriots and the Steelers, the Saints have stability, consistency and a proven process.  No, they don’t have enough skins on the wall, but football is an oddly shaped ball that bounces oddly, figuratively and literally. 

Once upon a time, I was young and starting my career and looked around at the 20 or so wonderful people I had to compete with in my new job.  I developed my own secret mantra and it went like this:

You may be smarter than me.

You may be more talented than me.

You are definitely better looking than me.

You may be more charismatic than me.

And you are probably more popular than me.

But, you are NOT going to outwork me.

Drew Brees doesn’t get outworked. 

As we drove home from the game last night, I heard Deuce McCallister talk about Drew’s insane workouts that initially saved his career and have now elongated it to record-breaking greatness.  

The fan only gets a glimpse into the dedication that Brees has, and we just know that behind the scenes he is doing more than we can imagine, physically and mentally.

At halftime, the Saints trotted out (actually they walked) the 2009 Championship team.  Almost all of them came back.  They’ve been hanging around New Orleans all week and several mentions were made of their reverence for Drew Brees’ leadership and work ethic.  

In these fractured times, we could all learn a lot from Drew Brees.