Former Purdue Quarterback Drew Brees Unlikely to Unretire for 2021 NFL Season
Drew Brees, a former star quarterback at Purdue, enjoyed a 20-year career in the NFL and is regarded and one of the greatest at his position to ever play professionally. But even after hanging up the cleats, Hall of Fame signal-caller Brett Favre proved that players can always return to the game.
Brees, on the other hand, isn't likely to walk the same road. In an interview with Mike Tirico on Peter King's Football Morning in America, Brees was adamant that he hasn't prepared his arm for a potential 21st season of passing.
Even if there were a slight chance at Brees' return, he simply wouldn't be ready if a quarterback-needy team gave him a call looking for a replacement.
“I better get my butt going if that’s the case,” Brees told Tirico. “There is a saying that if you don’t use it, you lose it. That’s the truth, my arm is killing me because I haven’t been training to throw. I actually feel worse now than at any other point in my career. I may have one throw, one series, one drive.”
It's not entirely out of the question that Brees does begin to train once again, but it's unlikely. He is keeping himself busy preparing for a new occupation as a sports broadcaster at NBC.
Brees' passion and leadership as an athlete are undeniable. But the 42-year-old retiree is enjoying other walks of life now that his football career is officially over.
“I have been preparing for the next chapter, I’m excited about it," Brees said. "There is a feeling of gratitude and appreciation for all that the game gave me. I still have a chance (at NBC) to be connected with the game and stay involved, but I am excited to be able to pursue some other passions that I haven’t been able to up to this point.”
Here is a list of Brees' records as an NFL quarterback:
- Most Career Passing Yards: 80,358
- Most Career Completions: 7,142
- Best Career Completion Percentage (At Least 2,000 Attempts): 67.7%
- Most Seasons With 5,000+ Passing Yards: 5
- Most Completions in a Season: 471 (2016)
- Best Completion Percentage in a Season: 74.4% (2018)
- (Tied) Most Passing Touchdowns in a Game: 7 (Nov. 1, 2015)
- Most games with 300+ passing yards: 123
- Most games with 4+ passing touchdowns: 37
- Most games with 5+ passing touchdowns: 11
- Most seasons with 30+ passing touchdowns: 10
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D.J. Fezler is a staff writer for BoilermakersCountry.com. Hailing from The Region, he is from Cedar Lake in Northwest Indiana and has spent the last two years covering Purdue football and basketball.