ORLANDO, Fla. -- New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees has accumulated a lot of awards over the years -- he’s already been to nine Pro Bowls, is a two-time Offensive Player of the Year, a Super Bowl champion and Super Bowl MVP. Yet the 38-year-old signal-caller is in Orlando this week for Pro Bowl No. 10, even though many of his peers have bowed out in recent years and he originally was named an alternate.
“I take it as a great honor to be chosen, to be in that conversation, in the mix, to be chosen for the Pro Bowl,” said Brees, who is taking Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan’s spot this week.
“It’s an opportunity for me to be around guys I admire from afar and would really like to just spend time with," Brees said. "Like I was really excited to come here and spend time with [Dallas Cowboys quarterback] Dak Prescott and [Washington Redskins quarterback] Kirk Cousins, guys that [I admire].”
Prescott threw 26 touchdowns and just five interceptions in the 2016 season, leading the Cowboys to a 13-3 record. “Dak, for it being his first season, to see what he did as a rookie was so impressive -- just to talk shop with him and get to know him,” Brees said.
Cousins threw for 4,917 passing yards -- third-most in the league -- and has posted the league’s third-best completion percentage (68.3) since he took over as a full-time starter two years ago.
“I’ve been a fan of [his] for a long time,” Brees said of Cousins. “I just felt like he was a guy that, man, once he was given the opportunity, he was going to take full advantage of it -- which he has. So the five years he’s been in -- the last two especially -- have been really good.”
Passing the torch and sharing what he's learned over the years is especially important to Brees. He admits that it's humbling when younger guys such as Prescott seek him out.
“I get young guys coming up to me, wanting to talk shop, wanting to pick my brain and telling me that maybe they had my jersey when they were in high school or middle school or something like that. I’ve been around 16 years now,” Brees said, chuckling. “It’s kind of mind-blowing, humbling; it makes me certainly appreciate how I got here, and there were a lot of people who paved the way for me."
By the same token, when Mark Brunell, who spent 19 seasons in the league and served as Brees’ backup when the Saints won Super Bowl XLIV, showed up for practice Thursday, Brees greeted him with a big hug, and they talked for several minutes. The league is all about paying it forward.
“If there’s anything I can do to them to pay it forward, [I will],” Brees said. “A lot of these guys are gonna be in this game for a long time; they’re gonna be the ones, 10 years from now, that everybody’s gonna be seeking out.”
Those connections are special to Brees, along with reuniting with old teammates such as Seattle Seahawks tight end Jimmy Graham and Philadelphia Eagles running back Darren Sproles, and getting to see Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, who Brees trains with in the offseason. He is also fond of Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett.
It’s also about his family and being able to share this with his children. When the Saints won the Super Bowl in 2009, he and his wife Brittany had just welcomed their first child, Baylen, into the world a year earlier. Now the couple has three more: Bowen (6), Callen (4) and Rylen (2).
“My kids now being of age where they can come and enjoy this,” Brees said. “They’re, like, die-hard. They were running around the locker room earlier loving life and they’ll remember this forever. That’s what this is all about.”