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The then-San Diego Chargers’ decision to let Drew Brees walk away in free agency, ultimately landing with the New Orleans Saints, remains one of the greatest what-if’s in NFL history. The story has it all: a Chargers quarterback controversy between highly-drafted prospects (who each went on to make Hall of Fame-worthy careers), uncertain injury concerns, the rebirth of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, a historic father-and-son coaching duo (and a father-and-son quarterback duo, who forced their hand in an NFL landscape-changing trade), and even a Nick Saban cameo. But we’ll focus on one little anecdote.
Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer told his part in that story to SI.com’s Albert Breer, recounting how the decision to acquire a quarterback in the 2004 NFL Draft spurred Brees into an NFL Comeback Player of the Year campaign.
Some time after the Chargers first met Philip Rivers, Schottenheimer (who was San Diego’s quarterbacks coach at the time) ran into Brees around the team facility. And of course Brees was curious who the Chargers would be targeting in the draft.
The way Schottenheimer tells it, the news that San Diego would be bringing in competition for Brees’ job galvanized him: “But when I tell you the serious look, how his eyes went from a real fun, jovial conversation, his eyes kind of just locked in. And he looked at me and said, ‘That would be the worst (expletive) mistake this organization could ever make. And I’m like, ‘Hey, man, don’t shoot the messenger.’ He goes, ‘Worst mistake ever.’ And he walked off.”
A few months later, Brees started the season with a 1-2 record and was called into the head coach’s office, where Marty Schottenheimer (Brian’s father), made it clear that Brees was going to be given one last shot before being benched for the rookie.
“He gets knocked around pretty good,” Schottenheimer said, recounting Brees’ last stand in Week 4 with the Tennessee Titans. “We take him back, we think he maybe had a concussion, but he wasn’t coming out. And Marty literally told him, ‘This is your last chance, this is your last drive.’ And he told me to tell Philip to warm up. And the next thing you know, the guy goes out and throws for three touchdown passes in the next 40 minutes of the game, and goes on to become NFL Comeback Player of the Year.”
Brees ultimately bounced back from an 11-to-15 touchdown-to-interception ratio the year before, to throw 27 touchdowns against just 7 interceptions in 2005, which won him that recognition and sent him to his first career Pro Bowl. He played well again the following year, but a season-ending shoulder injury sent him into free agency without any fanfare.
And the rest is history. Brees has gone on to win a Super Bowl with the Saints and break every meaningful NFL passing record, establishing himself as one of the best quarterbacks of all time. The Mercedes-Benz Superdome is one of the league’s most-vaunted venues. Rivers has had a fine career with the Chargers, but the team left San Diego and is about to wrap up a three-year stint in a Los Angeles soccer arena, before splitting rent with the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium to survive.
The trajectory Brees has gone on since leaving the Chargers couldn’t be more different from the team that ditched him, and it speaks to the kind of competitor that he is that his response to bad news from Schottenheimer all those years ago looks prophetic in hindsight. He called his shot, and made it a reality.
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