QB Brunell relishes chance to play for Saints
March 22, 2008
NFL veteran says New Orleans ‘headed in the right direction’
Saturday, March 22, 2008By Jimmy Smith
When veteran quarterback Mark Brunell suddenly found himself on the open NFL market after being released by the Washington Redskins at the outset of the free-agency signing period, he suddenly had the opportunity to travel the country on a recruiting trip of sorts.
Payton said this week Brunell would be matched against last year’s third quarterback, Tyler Palko, also a left-hander, for the spot as Brees’ backup.
“There’s no one slated at any spots,” Payton said. “(Brunell) is a veteran player who I think gives us experience, a guy who has won and played at a high level. He’ll face competition from a guy like Tyler Palko.
“Those things are healthy. Mark’s a guy who’s familiar with the system we run, and I think will benefit our team and we’re better having him.”
Brunell — who’ll wear No. 11, his old college number, and not the No. 8 he has worn as a professional and that was worn here by Archie Manning (“I want no part of that,” Brunell said, laughing), said the Saints’ offensive cupboard is overflowing, which made his decision even easier.
“Drew is surrounded by a lot of talent, and a lot of guys who play hard and give it their all on the field,” Brunell said. “If you’ve got guys like that around you that have a lot of talent who are willing to really sell out and play well, that certainly helps you. It’s just a great group of guys, and I couldn’t be happier about being around that group. It’s a good locker room with some very good football players.”
He could have sat and listened to sales pitches from teams looking for a solid, worst-case-scenario backup, taken his time, eaten a few meals on someone else’s nickel, and strung out the bargaining process by playing one team, or one city, against the other.
Apparently, it wasn’t necessary.
“This is it, one visit, and it was a great visit,” Brunell said this week after arriving in New Orleans to begin working in the Saints’ offseason conditioning program. “I had a great time with people I know are just good people. I could really tell that this organization, this team was headed in the right direction.
“I had a real good feel about it, from Coach (Sean) Payton, to everyone here. I had a really good visit.”
Preparing to enter his 16th NFL season, Brunell understood that wherever he’d end his career, it probably would be as an understudy to a younger quarterback whose best years were ahead. He could perhaps fill the role of tutor/mentor to another youngster on the roster who’d be groomed to one day take over the offense.
The days of being the main man and leading a team to the playoffs, or a championship game, as Brunell twice did with the Jacksonville Jaguars, likely were in the past.
“I was looking for the best football situation and opportunity to come in and obviously be in a supporting role,” Brunell said. “And I tell you what: everything that I thought about, everything I was looking for, I found in the Saints. So I was very pleased that they had interest, and I certainly was very interested and I’m glad it worked out.”
In his career, Brunell has been quietly efficient. He has completed nearly 60 percent of his passes for 31,826 yards and 182 touchdowns with 108 interceptions for a quarterback rating of 84.2.
By comparison, Drew Brees has a career rating of 87.9, has completed 63.7 percent of his passes and thrown 134 touchdowns against 82 interceptions. Since joining the Saints, however, under Payton’s offensive direction, Brees has completed 66 percent of his passes, throwing for 54 touchdowns, 29 interceptions, 8,841 yards and has a rating of 92.5.
It’s the kind of wide-open system that makes the sales pitch a little easier.
“First of all,” Brunell, 37, said, “it’s good to have a head coach who’s a good guy, a proven coach who cares about his players and obviously has had a lot of success. Him being an offensive-minded guy, I’m looking forward to working with him and all the coaches.
“All the players I talked to love the offense, and from what I can tell, it’s a quarterback-friendly offense. Obviously Drew has done real well with it, and I’m looking forward to learning it and doing it out on the field.”
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