TWO QBS FOR THE AGED
Brady and Brees vie in first game with signal-callers in 40s
NEW ORLEANS — After a century of NFL football, this season’s Week 1 slate features the first game to involve two quarterbacks in their 40s: the Buccaneers’ Tom Brady and the Saints’ Drew Brees.
So mark down Sunday’s NFC South Division clash between the teams as another unusual occurrence in 2020 — and one that should provide reason for hope. It’s evidence that the greatest young quarterbacks of today could very well last two full decades in the pros.
“There’s probably better information about recovery and performance than there’s ever been. People are really getting a better understanding of it than when I started playing,” Brady said. “Will this become a trend? It really just depends on the commitment level of an athlete. If you’re not that committed or you don’t love it that much, you’re not going to put as much time in and energy into it.
“I learned at a young age how to begin to take care of myself and try to repeat those things and got better at them over the years and was really able to do what a lot of people do with their jobs. You improve over time.”
That’s certainly what the Bucs bet on when they lured the 43-year-old Brady away from the Patriots — his only other team — during free agency in the spring. After signing Brady, the team jettisoned 26-year-old, 2015 first overall draft choice Jameis Winston, who responded by signing with the Saints to learn under Brees.
While Brady’s final season in New England wasn’t his best, he won his sixth Super Bowl just two seasons ago at age 41 — the age Brees is now.
And while Brees has not made it back to a Super Bowl since his only championship a decade ago, his efficiency has been as good as ever the last couple of seasons. He set an NFL record with a 74.4% completion rate in 2018 and nearly matched it last season, when he completed 74.3% of his passes — and also threw a career-low four interceptions.
“Every NFL team’s approach to how you’re training, how you’re recovering, how you’re caring for players, how we’re training in the offseason — all those things have been in evolution,” Brees said. “We’re armed and equipped with a lot more information than we ever have been. And so the ability to incorporate those things into what we do from a training and recovery perspective allows us to stay in our prime longer.
“Father Time is going to get us at some point,” Brees continued, “but we’re trying to beat him out right now.”
The result is a rare QB showcase on several levels.
Brees is the NFL’s all-time leader in yards passing with 77,416 and touchdowns passing with 547. Brady is second in both categories with 74,571 and 541. And this first of two scheduled meetings will mark the first time the NFL’s top two in career yards passing played in the same game since 1998 (Miami’s Dan Marino and Denver’s John Elway).
But while Brees is leading a Saints squad that has won the division three years running, Brady’s No. 12 graces a jersey not seen in the playoffs for a dozen seasons.
“We’re going to figure out what we’re good at and not good at. I wish we knew those things, but the reality is we don’t,” Brady said this week. “You don’t know it until you go do it.”
Because the coronavirus pandemic prompted the NFL to cancel the preseason, there hasn’t even been a trial run during an exhibition game. Brady’s debut comes when it counts, on the road, against a consensus contender.
“It’s a big challenge because there’s no margin of error when you play a great football team,” Brady said. “The Saints have proven themselves to be that for a long time.”