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The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has prompted new rules and protocols across the NFL, requiring many players to break old habits and reduce risk of infection.
One of the players trying to be more hygienic is New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees. It’s been a frequent sight in Saints games for the last decade-and-a-half: Brees stepping up and licking his fingers before taking the snapped football from his center, an unconscious gesture aimed at keeping his hands pliable and better able to grip and throw.
However, that’s something of an unnecessary risk during a public health crisis. Surrounded by dozens of other players in a contact sport, Brees has had to work hard at changing up his habits to help keep himself and others safe.
“So, believe it or not, I’m telling you I have not licked my fingers in four months,” Brees said on a Saturday conference call previewing Saints training camp. Brees added that the habit extended outside football, indulging any time he was leafing through a magazine or stack of papers.
“But I have consciously broke myself of the habit because of COVID, because probably, partly, because my wife was there to get on me about it,” Brees continued. “Listen, I’ll tell you this: if I can break myself of the licking-the-fingers habit, I think that means anybody can break themselves of any habit. Because that was out of control how much I was licking my fingers.”
It’s a small thing, but habits are critical to a creature of habit like Brees. He’s worked with the same personal trainer at the same practice field for decades during the offsesason, and credits his rigorous game week routine for his success in the NFL. Maybe he can start keeping a damp towel in his waistband.
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