Drew Brees, the quarterback of the New Orleans Saints, has announced his retirement from the NFL after 20 seasons.
Drew Brees, the New Orleans Saints quarterback, revealed Sunday on Instagram that he will retire after 20 seasons, capping off one of the most successful careers in NFL history.
Brees’ four children, Baylen, Bowen, Callen, and Rylen, stated in a video that “after 15 years with the Saints and 20 years in the NFL, our dad is finally going to retire.” So that he may spend more time with us! Yeah!!”
Brees sent a remark on the post that read:
“After 20 years in the NFL and 15 years with the Saints, it is time for me to retire from football. Every day, I put my heart and soul into being your quarterback. Until the very end, I gave all I had to the Saints organization, my team, and the wonderful city of New Orleans. We had several incredible experiences together, many of which are etched in our hearts and thoughts and will always be a part of us.
“You’ve shaped me, strengthened me, motivated me, and given me a lifetime of memories. My objective over the last 15 years has been to offer you what you’ve given to me, and more.
I’m simply retiring from football, not from New Orleans. This is not a goodbye, but rather a new beginning. Now my actual life’s job starts!”
Brees, 42, departs as the NFL’s all-time leader in career passing yards (80,358) and second-best in touchdown passes (571) and completion percentage (67.7%). More than that, Brees will be remembered for his role in reviving the Saints club and the city of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina in 2006, when he came with coach Sean Payton.
They led the Saints to the NFC Championship Game in their first season and won the franchise’s lone Super Bowl three years later, with Brees being voted MVP.
“When I was hired as head coach of the Saints in 2006, my first goal was to establish a functional and winning culture,” Payton said in a statement. “It was critical to understand what we were seeking for in a player, and Drew Brees possessed all of these qualities: skill, work ethic, makeup, intelligence, and leadership. I will be eternally thankful for everything he has done for our team, our community, and for me personally.
Despite guiding the Saints to four consecutive NFC South victories in the previous four years, Brees was never able to win a second Super Bowl. His last game was a devastating 30-20 defeat to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the divisional round of the playoffs.
His retirement creates a massive vacuum for the Saints to fill with either Taysom Hill, Jameis Winston, or a quarterback to be announced later.
Brees has long been recognized as one of the game’s all-time greats.
In addition to his dazzling stats and remarkable triumphs, Brees will be remembered as a great underdog tale. Brees, who stands 6 feet tall, was only recruited by two institutions before going on to have a record-breaking career at Purdue. In 2001, he slid to the second round of the draft and began his career with the San Diego Chargers.
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