10 Things The NFL Wants You To Forget About Drew Brees

Drew Brees is one of the most legendary football players to ever step onto the field. The longtime New Orleans Saints passer was at the top of the NFL for nearly two decades. Along the way, he made the Pro Bowl and All-Pro teams several times and defeated Peyton Manning head-to-head to claim a Super Bowl ring in 2010.

RELATED: Why Drew Brees Should Return To The NFL (& Why He Should Stay Retired)

After the 2020 season, Brees decided to hang up the jersey for good, and retire. While it's just been a few years since the former Saints star was active, there's a lot that fans might have forgotten about his lengthy career on the gridiron.

10 Stint in San Diego

In 2001, Drew Brees was drafted by the San Diego Chargers. While the quarterback was excellent during his time in college, he still fell to the bottom of the second round due to concerns about his height. Nonetheless, Brees quickly proved his critics wrong.

Brees played five seasons in San Diego, putting up solid numbers. Despite the decent success, some still had concerns about his longevity in the league after suffering several shoulder injuries early in his career.

9 Almost Played For the Miami Dolphins

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After the end of the 2005 NFL season, Drew Brees became a free agent for the first time in his career. While the Chargers had an interest in retaining the Pro Bowl quarterback, he instead narrowed his next squad to the Miami Dolphins or New Orleans Saints.

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While head coach Nick Saban was interested, as was Brees, the Dolphins declined to sign the veteran passer due to his injury issues. Instead, he headed to the New Orleans Saints, and the rest is history.

8 Worked With AdvoCare

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After Drew Brees won his first Super Bowl ring in 2010, he became a household name. He released a book later that year and earned several sponsorship opportunities. Sadly, one of those came with a company running a pyramid scheme.

In March 2010, Brees became the official spokesperson for AdvoCare, a dietary supplement company. The company is officially classified as a multi-level marketing firm and has been sued on several occasions.

7 Never Won The MVP

Drew Brees is one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever step on the NFL field. However, there are still some accolades that the former Super Bowl champion is missing. Despite his excellent career, Brees never won MVP.

That's not to say that he didn't get close, as he was the runner-up on three different occasions across his career. Nonetheless, Brees closed out his career without the elusive MVP trophy. However, he did earn the Super Bowl MVP for his 2010 efforts.

6 An Interception Cost Brees Another Super Bowl Trip

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The last few years of Drew Brees's career were quite painful. The New Orleans Saints were contenders and one of the greatest teams in the league but consistently faltered in the postseason. In 2018, the team had their best shot to make the Super Bowl and even made it to the NFC Championship.

The 2018 NFC Championship game is commonly known for the infamous no-call on pass interference against the Los Angeles Rams late in the game. While many fans point to that no-call as causing the loss, Brees deserves his fair share of the blame as well, as he threw a terrible interception in overtime that caused the defeat.

5 Postseason Record

On the note of Drew Brees in the postseason, his overall record is stunningly disappointing. While nobody really looked at the passer as a poor playoff player, the numbers don't lie. In the postseason, Brees went 9-9 in his career.

RELATED: 10 NFL Quarterbacks With Shocking Playoff Records

It's worth noting that three of those victories came in the 2010 season when the Saints won the Super Bowl. While Brees' postseason stats are quite good, he just couldn't get quite over the hump throughout his career.

4 Final Season

When it comes to football players in the NFL, most of them don't go out on top. While everyone loves Peyton Manning and his storybook ending resulting in a Super Bowl ring, he's far from the norm.

Instead, most players go out like Drew Brees in his final season. His final year in New Orleans saw his arm become shot, and unable to use the long ball. He also suffered from several injuries in his final season.

3 Final Game

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While his final season was rough, Drew Brees would've been able to redeem it with a solid postseason run in 2020. Sadly, that didn't happen. After defeating the Chicago Bears in the opening round, he faced Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the divisional round.

However, Brady didn't have to do much in this game. In his final game, Brees had a bit of a meltdown, throwing for just 134 yards and a touchdown. He also turned over the ball three times, with two interceptions coming on their final two drives to seal the loss.

2 Commentating Stint

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Following his retirement in 2021, Drew Brees quickly zeroed in on his next career. Like many former NFL players, he made a switch to commentary and became the color analyst for Sunday Night Football, as well as Notre Dame college games.

Sadly for Brees, he wasn't the best behind a mic. He lasted just one season in the booth, leaving after the 2021 NFL season.

1 Kneeling Comments

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The biggest moment that the NFL wants you to forget about Drew Brees came in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd. When asked by reporters about the situation, the veteran passer took the stance of regardless of the circumstances, players should never kneel during the national anthem and protest.

As a result, many of his teammates and fellow players expressed disappointment with Brees due to the timing of his comments. He later apologized for his comments, but the damage was done in the locker room.