Hooray for Drew Brees

TWo weeks ago, the NYTimes Sunday Sports section gave us a wonderful article about New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees. It's a very light piece, starting with Brees's arrival in the city shortly after the storm. Saints fans immediately took to him, and he immediately took to the city. He has since had a child, and appears to be very dedicated personally to the city. The team is well-loved in the city, almost to the point of becoming a religion. The organization returns the favor, often putting together charity and city spirit events. The spirit in the city for the team is very infectious, particularly when they are doing as well as they are now. I've even started listening to the games on the radio while studying for my qualifying exams; they are scary good.

As an aside, I find it a bit amusing that I am now so enthusiasticaly cheering for Brees. I've seen him play in person once, during the 2001 Rose Bowl (following the 2000 season). Brees was playing for the Purdue Boilermakers, and lost to the Washington Huskies during their Marques Touiasosopo years. I don't remember Brees being particularly brilliant in that game, but he wasn't awful. Touiasosopo ran the option, and was personally responsible for something like 80% of the Huskies offensive yards that season. But I guess Brees got the last laugh, as he went higher between the two in the 2001 NFL draft, and Tuiososopo now plays for the Raiders.

But anyway, go read the NYT article. It's fantastic. Even more fantastic given the rediculous game he had today against the Giants.