NFL legend Drew Brees appeared on the “New Heights” podcast and broke down the crazy story of his 2006 free agency. It turns out a failed medical evaluation and an upside-down Chevy truck in a living room changed football history forever.
Back in 2006, coming off a severe shoulder injury in San Diego, the Miami Dolphins looked like a done deal.
“On paper, it was Miami all the way. Miami had Nick Saban. They had just come off a 9-7 season. Defense was lights out. They were running the same offense we were running.”
Former Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga rolled out the red carpet to lure Brees to Miami.
“I’m sitting there eating dinner on Wayne Huizenga’s yacht. He’s talking about playing golf in Scotland every summer. No state income tax. I’m like, ‘Dude, this is wallpaper. Miami, here I come.'”
Then the Dolphins’ medical staff changed everything.
“I’m in Miami in an MRI tube for two hours just aching. They stick these big needles in my shoulder to test the nerve endings. I got this feeling of doubt. They don’t really think I will be able to play. Their doctors said I had a 25% chance of coming back and playing again.”
Miami saw too much risk. New Orleans saw a franchise quarterback.
“New Orleans was six months post-Katrina. They just hired some unknown head coach named Sean Payton. Who is this guy?”
While Miami doubted him, the Saints went all in.
“I go to New Orleans and it was like, ‘You are our guy.’ Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis said, ‘We’re building this offense around you.'”
“They did everything they could to roll out the red carpet despite all the circumstances. New Orleans was still destroyed.”
The city was still reeling six months after Hurricane Katrina. Brees took a drive through town and couldn’t believe what he saw.
“Houses were off their foundations. There was a Chevy truck upside down in a living room. The car stops, and there’s a tugboat in the middle of the road.”
“I’m looking at my wife like, ‘Are you seeing what I’m seeing?'”
That was the moment everything flipped. “It was one of those moments where it’s like this is so much bigger than just football. We get to be part of the resurrection of one of America’s greatest cities.”
“This is God’s calling in our life. And that was the determining factor.”
As NFL history would show, Brees made the right call. He won a Super Bowl in New Orleans.
Miami traded for Daunte Culpepper instead, and Nick Saban fled to Alabama to build a college dynasty.
All because of a failed medical evaluation and a leap of faith.
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