Drew Brees Q&A: Purdue Football, Hudson Card's Growth, Notre Dame Rivalry and More
This story is a conversaton between former Purdue Boilermakers and New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees and Sports Illustrated/Purdue writer Dustin Schutte. Brees is partnering with Dos Equis as part of the’“Go for Dos” campaign, which involves college football, two-point conversions and one million free beers.
No matter how much time passes, Drew Brees remains one of the most prominent figures in the history of Purdue football. He helped revolutionize offense in the Big Ten and led the Boilermakers to a conference championship and a Rose Bowl appearance in 2000.
Recently, Sports Illustrated/Purdue had the opportunity to speak with Brees prior to the start of the 2024 college football season. The Purdue legend talked about the job coach Ryan Walters has done in West Lafayette, the growth of quarterback Hudson Card, the return of the Notre Dame rivalry and plenty more.
Question: After winning the Big Ten Championship Game in 2022, Purdue went through a bit of a rebuild. They hired Ryan Walters, brought in a new staff, had to go through some growing pains. What do you see out of Ryan and what do you like about his staff and how things run in West Lafayette?
Brees: "I love that we went out and got a young, aggressive, defensive coach. That's something that, historically at Purdue since I came in as part of Joe Tiller's first recruiting class in 1997, I think a lot of the focus was on offense. A high-flying, spread offensive, kind of taking the Big Ten by storm. Which, certainly we did back in '97. I think we kind of changed the complexion of the Big Ten and that style offense — succeeding in the Big Ten. We now live in a day and age where everyone has a version of it, right? Everybody has the ability to spread it out, air it out.
"Every coaching hire for us after that was geared around this spread offense. Then, all of a sudden, we go out and get a young, talented, aggressive defensive coach. Now, he goes out and hires Graham Harrell, who came from Mike Leach, spread offense. So, we maintain that high-flying, basketball on grass, aggressive style of passing game. But you now pair that with, I think an equally aggressive style of defense. It just makes for a more exciting brand of football. A brand of football that a lot of players at the college and high school levels take notice of, saying, 'Man, I'd love to play for a coach like that. I'd love to play in a system like that.'
Question: (Quarterback) Hudson Card proved a lot last year, but he played pretty dinged up. He had a hurt shoulder, injured ribs and still played. What have you seen from Hudson and how beneficial is it for a quarterback to be in the second year of the same offensive scheme?
Brees: "Yeah, so I've been keeping up with Hudson Card throughout the offseason and then into training camp. He's having a great camp, and I'm excited for him.
"It's a monumental difference, going into the second year in a system versus the first. Not just from the perspective of understanding the system, but just for the guys you're playing with. You get another offseason under your belt, a chance to build team chemistry, team camaraderie. And you get to find your comfort level with the things you really like, the things you do well, things that other guys do well and what's going to set you up for success.
"I think the second year for all of those guys — the coaching staff, the players, Hudson Card — this is the opportunity to make that next big jump."
Question: You said you've been in contact with Hudson, has that always been something you've done since you've graduated from Purdue, staying in contact with current quarterbacks, helping them on their journey?
Brees: "Honestly, it's just making myself available. Everybody kind of has their own routine and their own system. But if they know that there's this support system that's always in place if they need something — it could be a question about X's and O's, could be a question about how you're handling the balance of academics and athletics, it could be any number of things.
"I've had many conversations with a number of guys over the years just about life in general, all the way to the X's and O's of a route concept. I want those guys to always know that I'm available and I want them to be successful and I'll do whatever I can to help them get there."
Question: This is the hard-hitting question for you, Drew. I was curious about how much contact you have with Ryan Walters? Because I've asked two times if he's been able to get to Triple XXX and try the peanut butter burger and he hasn't caved yet. I didn't know if you'd be able to talk him into that? He says it's not his thing.
Brees: "That's a good call. Yeah, that is a specific palate that would enjoy that.
"I actually just texted him a few days ago, just checking in to see how everything was going with camp and everything getting ramped up with these final scrimmages and then the season. He's pretty stoked, he's ready to roll."
Question: Do you have any plans to get back to Ross-Ade Stadium this season?
Brees: "Man, I'm going to try to, I'm going to do my best. There's a couple great ones, like that Notre Dame game, I'd love to make it to. I just don't know if we'll be able to.
"I'm coaching my boys, both high school level and Pop Warner. That's proven to be pretty involving. So, I'm going to do my best. But I'm always watching, supporting, even if I'm 1,000 miles away."
Question: You guys had some great games against Notre Dame when you played. How cool is it, how exciting is it for you to have that rivalry game back on the schedule, at least for a short period of time?
Brees: "It's awesome. Believe it or not, that was one of the factors, one of the things I appreciated when I chose Purdue. Look, I didn't have many opportunities — it was Purdue or Kentucky. After the academic reputation of Purdue, it was looking at the Big Ten schedule and looking at the fact that they played Notre Dame every year.
"As a kid growing up in Texas, there were a lot of Texas kids that played for Notre Dame. (Receiver) Tim Brown was one, and there were a few others that I can recall. When I was a kid, I was watching the Southwest Conference, and I was watching Notre Dame. Because Notre Dame was independent, they were always on NBC, so we were watching Notre Dame games.
"That was kind of our household tradition. So, to be in a situation where I was playing against Notre Dame every year. It was like, man, that's a dream come true. Playing in that stadium, amongst all the titans in college football. Historically, that was a huge factor.
"I hated when that game went away. I get it, per their ACC agreement, they were going to play ACC teams and drop the Big Ten teams. But, man, you always looked forward to watching Notre Dame play Michigan, Michigan State, and Purdue. It would be great if they could bring that back somehow."
Question: Tell me about the promotion you're working on with Dos Equis this year.
Brees: "Yeah, this is a lot of fun. So, the campaign is "Go for Dos." We want to see if, this year, college football teams in Division I can go for (a) two(-point conversion) more times this year than they did last year. They went for two 392 times last year. So, if they go for two more than that this year, Dos Equis will give away up to 1 million free beers to college football fans everywhere. Which, is awesome.
"You think about one of the most exciting plays in sports is going for two. You can break it out at any point in the game — early in the game, certainly late in the game. It's when you get break out all of your trick plays, you're probably throwing the ball a lot. That's when a lot of the exciting stuff happens.
"We did a study one time when I was with the (New Orleans) Saints — basically, if you're able to go for two and be successful for than 50% of the time, then why wouldn't you do that? Why wouldn't you go for two every time you score? You'd have to have a pretty healthy list of plays you could run through to do it, but at the end of the day, you're going to score more points."
Question: You've had some pretty memorable two-point conversions in your career. I remember specifically when you flipped over a defender to get into the end zone in the 1999 Purdue-Notre Dame game.
Brees: "Yeah, that was at a critical point at the end of the game.
"We also went for two at the end of the Super Bowl (XLIV). When we scored, it helped us to go up seven points — it was one of the best plays in the game. Lance Moore made a miraculous catch. At first they called it incomplete, then it went to review and then it was ruled complete. It was an awesome, momentum-changing moment for us. We went on to win the Super Bowl.
"So, yeah, there have been some two-point conversions that have been pretty significant in my career."
Question: I'm curious to get your perspective — with all the data, the analytics that's become available, it seems like teams and coaches are attempting two-point conversions more. Are you a fan of that? Or are coaches overthinking things too much at times?
Brees: "Sean Payton used to say it like this — somebody would ask, 'Hey, should we go for two here.' And he would say, 'I don't know, do you have a play you like?' If you have a play you like and everybody believes it's going to work, that's the battle right there. If you go into a situation with a ton of confidence ... you're more apt to be successful with it.
"If you're just looking at analytics and you're going for two just because the analytics say to do it, but nobody really feels good about it, or there isn't a play you like or the situation doesn't call for it, you have to put the data aside. Data is great, but, do you have a play you like? Do you have a matchup you like? Do you feel like you have a play that has answers and is going to work?"
Question: Last question for you — I know you're a big pickleball player, you talked earlier about coaching your sons, but what other hobbies have you come across or picked up in your post-football career?
Brees: "I love to stay active, I love sports, I love to compete. The coaching thing in the fall takes up a ton of time.
"But I get to ski with the kids now, which I didn't do when I was playing. Mountain biking, water sports, get in the ocean, get in the lake. Pickleball stuff. Hopefully some more golf, I haven't been playing enough, I need to play more."
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DUSTIN SCHUTTE