Ok, we all know that Drew Brees is a very, very good QB. There’s no questioning that. He is a prime example of how you don’t have to be 6’5” to be good at football. He has brought along the likes of a player such as Russell Wilson, who is the only player in NFL history to throw 50 touchdowns in his first 2 seasons. The 40-year old vet recently just missed out on his chance to earn his second career Super Bowl ring with the New Orleans Saints, which I will bring up later. However, the 2018 season has arguably been his best. But lately on sports shows such as Sports Center and Get Up, there has been more and more talk about Drew Brees. Then I began to think, should Drew Brees be considered the G.O.A.T? (greatest of all time).

On 1/15/19, Drew Brees turned 40. And the most accurate thrower of all time, a mind blowing 67.3% completion percentage, seems to get better with age. Finishing with a 32-5 touchdown-interception ratio, around 4,000 passing yards, and a record breaking 74% completion percentage in a season, has earned the Saints a 13-3 record. However, it looks like the rookie QB phenomena Patrick Mahomes is keeping Drew Brees from his first MVP award. But for some reason Brees manages to do things other QB’s can only imagine.

Although Brees played in a time when Tom Brady and Peyton Manning were continuously winning MVP awards, he has managed to break almost every major statistical record for a QB. In total, he holds 14 NFL records. In 2018 alone, Brees broke a multitude of records. He has broken the career passing record at 72,103 yards (in 2018), the highest completion percentage ever in a season (in 2018), and is the 3rd QB ever to beat all 32 NFL teams, (in 2018). Brees also holds the record for the greatest career completion percentage, and has a very good chance to break the career touchdown record next season. These staggering numbers are already good enough to put him in the G.O.A.T. conversation, but for some reason sports analysts still doubt him.

Before this past 2018 season, Drew Brees was incredibly underrated. Writer Nate Davis with USA TODAY summed it up perfectly. “He’s never had that laser rocket arm or 4.4 speed. He’s never played his home games in a major media market.He hasn’t been part of many indelible moments looped endlessly by NFL Films.He’s never been at the center of a controversy that would wind up elevating his profile.He was the 32nd pick of the 2001 draft, which, at the time, didn’t even qualify him as a first rounder.”(wire.usatoday.com/2018/10/03/new-orleans-saints-drew-brees-passing-record-week-5-mnf/). There was nothing special about Brees coming out of the draft. Sure, he won a Rose Bowl with Purdue, but he was still drafted in the second round. After being drafted by the San Diego Chargers, he would go on to dislocate his shoulder, be cut by the Chargers, and be forgotten by the NFL. But then something clicked. He made his comeback to New Orleans and began this amazing career. He turned New Orleans from being a nobody to Super Bowl Champs with a powerhouse offense. Despite this, New Orleans fell off the radar. After losing to Seattle in the 2011 Wild Card game, the Saints went on a five year playoff drought. Again, New Orleans returned to just being that mediocre team in the NFL. Luckily, Brees managed to turn things around. The last two years the Saints have gone to the playoffs but suffered heartbreaking losses in both of them, preventing Brees from that second ring.

https://saintswire.usatoday.com/2018/10/03/new-orleans-saints-drew-brees-passing-record-week-5-mnf/

If there is any reason as to why people never noticed the greatness of Drew Brees, this is why. Tom Brady, who is considered the greatest, has won 5 Super Bowls. Joe Montana has won 4. Peyton Manning has won 2. Each of these QB’s has multiple rings under their belts. Just like amazing Miami Dolphin QB Dan Marino, this is in my eyes the only thing keeping Brees from being immortalized as the greatest who ever played the game.

The fact that Brees has only one ring is not all his fault, although it would definitely help if he was taller than just six foot . But you cannot say someone is the greatest at any sport without looking at championships. However, if we take Super Bowl rings out of the equation, Brees is by far the greatest statistical QB the NFL has ever seen. But time is not on his side. After just turning 40, and suffering a very controversial loss to the LA Rams in the NFC Championship game, (in which Brees didn’t play that well), Brees has only one more year on his contract and Head Coach Sean Payton could see this as a sign that they need to look for a fresher QB.