Sports Illustrated
Daily Dose of Crimson Tide: The Full Nick Saban and Drew Brees Story
Today's Daily Dose of Crimson Tide will be a little bit of a departure in that it's more about Nick Saban than anything at Alabama.
Make that Nick Saban and Drew Brees, the very successful quarterback of the New Orleans Saints.
Before the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday, Saban was on College GameDay on ESPN and of course he was asked about the durability and injury concerns regarding quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
"I just hope teams don't make the same mistake that we made at Miami when we didn't take Drew Brees because we thought he was hurt," Saban said. "And look what he's done since then."
Maybe the Dolphins were listening, because they took Tagovailoa with the fifth-overall pick.
However, to understand the full story one has to go back to when Saban was the head coach at Michigan State from 1995-99. Michigan was the Spartans' biggest rival, but the school that gave him the most fits was Purdue.
The Boilermakers were 3-1-1 against him, and a huge reason why was Brees.
In 1997, Brees replaced starter Billy Dicken with 4:24 to play and was intercepted by safety Aric Morris at the Purdue 26-yard line with 3:47 left, seemingly sealing the win. Ahead 21-10, Michigan State subsequently lined up to attempt a 39-yard field goal, only Purdue defensive tackle Leo Perez broke through the line to block the kick and defensive end Rosevelt Colvin scooped up the loose ball and scored on a 62-yard return.
The ensuing onside kick was recovered by Boilermakers wide receiver Chris Daniels with 1:58 remaining, when Dicken returned and led a touchdown drive to give Purdue its first lead, 22-21. Michigan State got the ball back at its own 33-yard line with 35 seconds remaining and quickly drove, only Chris Gardner missed a 43-yard field goal with three seconds left.
"Divine intervention may have been on our side today," Purdue coach Joe Tiller said in his postgame remarks, while Saban was quoted as saying: “This is about as disappointed as I've ever been."
His anguish against the Boilermakers was only beginning. In 1998, Brees threw two touchdown passes less than four minutes apart in the fourth quarter as Purdue rallied from an 11-point deficit for its fourth straight victory, 25-24.
Finally, in 1999, Brees passed for 509 yards while leading a 52-28 win. He eventually left Purdue in 2001 having set Big Ten records for passing yards (11,792), touchdown passes (90), total offensive yards (12,693), completions (1,026), and attempts (1,678), and he’s the last starting quarterback Saban lost to two straight times.
Fast-forward to 2006, and Saban was with the Dolphins following a 9-7 finish with Gus Frerotte at quarterback. Miami decided to go in a different director and Saban wanted to sign free agent Drew Brees.
It didn't happen, though, as the team doctors felt that his shoulder injury was too severe. Brees instead landed with the New Orleans Saints, the Dolphins signed Daunte Culpepper, who didn't work out, and Saban left a year later for Alabama.
“We failed Drew Brees on the physical,” Saban told the Wall Street Journal. “That’s why he’s not Miami’s quarterback.”
It's now considered one of the most "What if" moments in sports.
Ironically, Saban, who only rarely compares players, called Tagovailoa a "left-handed Drew Brees.”
Some of this post originated from "Nick Saban vs. College Fooabll," published by Triumph Books
