Brees likes moves made in offseason
March 26, 2008
Saints QB says 2007 ‘part of the learning process’
Wednesday, March 26, 2008By Mike Triplett
If you’re curious what kind of guy Drew Brees is, this nugget should tell you all you need to know:
When Brees arrived in New Orleans over the weekend, he was excited to find out that the team got new carpet in the locker room.
“As simple as that sounds, you walk in, you see it and you’re like, ‘OK, it’s a new year,’ ” said the Saints’ eternally optimistic quarterback, who was eager to get back to work after a few months of recharging and globetrotting.
Brees said he even missed the media because, “We have exciting stuff to talk about now, expectations and free agents and all that stuff.”
As expected, Brees was thrilled with the Saints’ offseason moves — the new additions, plus the players who returned — and his expectations for 2008 are higher than ever.
“What do you think?” Brees said when someone asked if he expected to be back in the playoffs this season. “Absolutely. There’s no doubt. Any expectation less than that, you might as well leave the building right now.”
The Saints fell short of their goals with a disappointing 7-9 season last year, but Brees said he didn’t see that as a hiccup, but as “part of the learning process.”
“I think you have to go through an ’07 in order to achieve the things we want to achieve long term. I believe that’s what’s happened in my career,” said Brees, who was selected the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year after a bounce-back performance with the San Diego Chargers in 2004. “My worst year, individually and as a team, was back in ’03 in San Diego, and we went from 4-12 to then 12-4 the next year. My mind-set was that it made us so much mentally stronger, and I think that’s what will happen here.
“The only reason we’re going to be able to accomplish what we’re about to accomplish in ’08 is because of what we went through in ’07.”
Brees is personally delighted to be healthy at this time of year. Every year since 2004, he has been rehabbing one injury or another, some more serious than others.
He is pleased the Saints kept the offense almost fully intact, because he said there is a level of “ESP” between everyone when you’re on the same page for so long. He admitted that it was disappointing to lose center Jeff Faine to a mega-contract in Tampa Bay. But he is happy for Faine and has faith in replacement Jonathan Goodwin.
Brees has high hopes for the defensive newcomers, namely linebacker Jonathan Vilma, whom he called “special” and “dynamic.”
And he believes the Saints can get a boost from rehabbing tailback Deuce McAllister and second-year receiver Robert Meachem, among others who weren’t able to contribute much in 2007.
“This is always an exciting time,” Brees said. “Obviously once the season ends, everybody wants to get away and should get away. It’s a good time to clear your head, spend time with family and refresh. After a few weeks, though, you start thinking about that time in March, you’re keeping up with free agency. That’s when it starts to get exciting.”
Brees stayed busy throughout the winter. He took a trip to Phoenix during Super Bowl week, played in his first Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament, vacationed with his wife in China, went on a USO tour in Okinawa, Japan, with Saints tight end Billy Miller and Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Donnie Edwards and traveled to Hawaii last week for the NFL Players Association meetings.
The USO tours have become a staple of Brees’ offseason. Last year, he went to visit troops in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, and he said it was a rewarding experience.
This year, he got to visit the beach his grandfather stormed in on when he was a marine in World War II. Brees spoke with his grandfather on an international phone while walking past the same landmarks his grandfather described.
“It was kind of an emotional moment,” Brees said. “I said, ‘What were you thinking, Grandpa?’ He said, ‘Well, I was 19 years old at the time. I was just trying to live to be 20.’ It puts things in perspective as to what those guys did back then and what our soldiers do now. That’s why I feel so strongly about those USO trips.”
Brees’ appearance at Pebble Beach was his first, because in the past he had always been playing in the Pro Bowl or rehabbing an injury. It was a great and terrible experience at the same time, because he and professional partner Jeff Overton missed the cut in a tie-breaker. They both bogeyed the par-5 18th hole at Poppy Hills on Saturday, when a par would have sent them into the final round.
“It was extremely disappointing,” Brees said after a deep sigh. “I felt like I lost a football game. Seriously, I was that disappointed.”
Brees, a single-digit handicap, also will take his skills to the TPC Louisiana today in the Zurich Classic’s pro-am.
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