Leading up to Sunday’s divisional playoff, Tom Brady tweeted this History Channel parody (which Brees re-tweeted) to poke fun at himself, 43, and Brees, 42, ages that are almost unheard of for active NFL quarterbacks still bringing their A-games. Knowing the end of an era is drawing near with Drew Brees' possible retirement, it makes one all too sentimental.
Both teams were chasing each other's scores the entire time, with conversion following conversion, but the final score was 30-20 - with the Bucs heading to the first NFC Championship hosted by the Packers since 2008. If you're a Drew Brees fan like me, the last three minutes (and 2 interceptions) of that game were long and painful.
Brady left his locker room to find Brees on the field of the Superdome, and it turned into a heartwarming moment that included Brady throwing a TD pass to one of Brees' sons. After such an iconic game and wrap up, I wanted to look back at the history between these two NFL giants - #12 and #9 - which started in their college days when Brady’s Michigan Wolverines went head-to-head with Brees’ Purdue Boilmakers in 1999.
The Wolverines got the best of Brees, a two-time Heisman trophy nominee, a victory that still made Brady smile when he mentioned it at a 2019 press conference. "Yeah, we played them in my senior year in the Big House," he said, "And we beat him."
Despite the college game, Drew Brees would go on to have a 5-2 record against Brady throughout their professional careers. One of these victories came as a San Diego Charger, where Brees started from 2001-2006, and the rest came from the New Orleans Saints. Conversely, Brady has beaten Brees once as a Patriot and once as a Buccaneer.
This is by no means to say that Brees is the "better" quarterback. With 581 career TDs (10 more than Brees) and only 191 interceptions (52 fewer than Brees), 43 playoff appearances, and 6 (6!) Super Bowl rings, Tom Brady might be t̶h̶e̶ ̶g̶r̶e̶a̶t̶e̶s̶t̶ ̶q̶u̶a̶r̶t̶e̶r̶b̶a̶c̶k̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶N̶F̶L̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶t̶o̶r̶y̶ one of the greatest athletes of all-time. His drive, with or without Bill Belichick's iron grip as it's turned out, has kept him winning over, and over, and over again.
All this said, keep in mind that Drew Brees is still #2 in career TD stats, barely trailing Brady at 571, he has a Super Bowl ring of his own, AND he's #1 in completed passing yards (7,142!). Oh yeah, and he joined the league a year after Brady. I'm not biased, I'm just throwing that out there. In fact, the unbiased person in me should mention that Brees has thrown 243 interceptions in his career, making him the 13th most intercepted quarterback in history. I think throwing the most completed passes ever cancels that out though, am I right?
So, what's next for Brady and Brees?
Tom Brady will head to Green Bay for the second Battle of the Bays this year. The first one ended in a victory for Tampa, though records suggest that Aaron Rodgers doesn't play all too well at the Raymond-James Stadium. The Packers have home field advantage this time around, which usually works in their favor. Not only that, but the Buccaneers have some key weapons injured right now, including Mike Evans, Antonio Brown, Chris Godwin, Michael Jones, and Sean Murphy-Bunting. All of them are practicing at limited capacity right now except for Brown, who was not medically cleared to practice. No calls have been made on who (if any) will need to sit the game out.
IF Tampa Bay can pull this one off, they will be heading to Super Bowl LV for Brady's shot at a 7th ring. Even if they don't win the NFC Championship, with the Buccaneers coming as far as they have in Brady's first year on the team, I think it's safe to say something we always knew deep down: Brady>Belichick.
Meanwhile, Drew Brees has signed a contract with NBC to commentate after retiring from the Saints. According to his head coach Sean Payton, the retirement hasn't been set in stone yet, but his new 2-year contract is voidable if he changes his mind about playing in the 2021 season. When asked about it, Brees told the Lafayette Daily Advertiser, “I'll answer this question one time. I’m going to give myself the opportunity to process the season just like I did last year.”
So, that retirement question still hangs in the air and, with the Saints' season officially over now, maybe Brees has begun to process whether he'll call it quits or go for another round. My hopes are on the latter, but if he goes with the former, at least we'll still get to see him in the booth on Sundays.