Feb. 4, 2010

Small question about it, fire and drive make Brees great

By Pete Prisco | CBSSports.com Senior Writer
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MIAMI -- For a smallish quarterback, one who was forced to overcome that stigma to become one of the NFL's best, Drew Brees has an enormous competitive drive.

His New Orleans Saints teammates and coaches say that drive helped make Brees a star quarterback, but it's also something they see in him no matter what he's doing. That includes taking what should have been a laid-back bowfishing trip with his offensive linemen.

"He wanted the best captain, the best pole, stayed out an hour longer than the rest of us and when he came back his boat had the prettiest red fish and he personally shot the most," Saints offensive tackle Jon Stinchcomb said. "There were a couple of dollars riding on it. He got the most fish. It was an awesome trip, but that's just his competitive nature."

"He had a stacked team," Saints center Jonathan Goodwin said. "Anybody who had ever been bowfishing before was on his boat. I heard he didn't want to come in when the time limit came in and he was great doing it. He caught an insane number of fish. Yeah, he won by far. He's a true competitor and never wants to lose at anything."

It's probably driving him nuts this week that he is the "other" quarterback in Super Bowl XLIV. Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts is trying to win his second Super Bowl, which could convince some he's the greatest of all time.

Manning is 6-feet-5 and strong, the prototypical quarterback, the can't-miss kid. Brees is considered small for the position, which is why he came into the league with a lot of people wondering if he could ever be a franchise quarterback.

Stories this week will say Brees doesn't play with a chip on his shoulder, but the truth is that he does. You can sense it, even if he doesn't often say it. When I talked to him for a while last June for a column I was doing, he waved off the notion that the doubters bothered him, or drove him. But later, he made some comments that made it clear they did.

Brees, 31, isn't going to back away from a competition, even if it's one he brings on himself: him against anyone who said he couldn't be a great one.

"I like competition," he said last June.

Brees said this week he is 6 feet tall. Not taller, not shorter -- although some might wonder if that measurement came while he was wearing his shoes, maybe with a little lift.

He is the shortest starting quarterback in the NFL, but that doesn't stop him from succeeding. Work ethic is one reason, but he's also a great athlete. He played basketball in high school and they say he plays a mean game of tennis.

"I think sometimes what is maybe mislabeled is his athleticism," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "He's a rare athlete. When you look at his foot agility, his release, his accuracy and the fact that he has hands as big as mitts, he's got a skill set that is perfect for the position. So on top of the hard work, and on top of all the things that you guys have read and written about -- a lot which is true -- he's an amazing athlete."

Smart, too. His teammates rave about his ability to get the football to the right guy most of the time. Brees has a great feel for the game, one that makes his split-second decisions look so easy.

He is proof that seeing the field can happen for a shorter quarterback. It takes work. It takes repetitions. It takes watching tape. It also shows that spinning your head is the most important aspect of playing quarterback.

If Read 1 isn't there, you go to Read 2. Then Read 3. And maybe Read 4.

Brees is as good as any at getting through his progressions.

"He looks one way and comes back the other in an instant," Cowboys secondary coach Dave Campo said. "He knows if something is covered, there will be something open on the other side."

Watching him play the position is a real treat. His receivers say Brees often knows where he's going with the football before the ball is even snapped, just based on the pre-snap look.

"Drew pretty much demands the best out of you," Saints receiver Robert Meachem said. "When he gives you that look in the huddle, he's like, 'OK, I'm coming to you, now go make a play, and make me right.' That's what you do. You try to make him right."

He's been right a lot. In his four seasons with the Saints, Brees has averaged 4,574 yards and 31 touchdown passes per season. That's the best four-year yardage run by any quarterback ever.

Not bad for a guy who wasn't re-signed by the Chargers in 2006 because they had questions about his injured right shoulder, and because they had Philip Rivers waiting in the wings. Brees' four years as a starter weren't enough to convince San Diego to keep him.

The Saints signed him to a six-year, $60 million contract (and are working on an extension) even though he had problems raising his right arm after surgery. It was a risk at the time, but one that has paid off in a big way.

"You have to go through some tough times and fight through adversity in order to get to this kind of level and have these types of opportunities," Brees said. "Had you not gone through some of those things earlier in the history of this organization or in my own career, you wouldn't have learned the lessons you learned in order to get here -- have that chip on your shoulder or have the motivation we have to be here and take part in the Super Bowl."

Brees is often business-like in his approach. He spends time after each practice working with receivers. And he demands the same from teammates. The Brees does loosen up away from the field, the offensive huddle can be testy at times when the QB is all business.

"He's focused even in practice, all the time," Goodwin said.

Goodwin knows Brees intimately. OK, not that way. But Brees does have his hands under Goodwin's butt to take snaps from center. Even then, there is some regimen about Brees and his approach.

"Every time he takes a snap from under the center, he hits me on the side," Goodwin said. "It's a routine. He's the only quarterback I've taken snaps from who's done that. I don't know why he does it."

Detailed. Regimented. Competitive. It's all part of the reason why a 6-foot passer who sure doesn't look the part can become one of the NFL greats.

You want a fight? Drew Brees will be glad to oblige.