I just returned home from an NFC Championship game party where I watched my Minnesota Vikings blow yet another opportunity to go to the Super Bowl. While the purple did a pretty decent job of bottling up Drew Brees tonight, he’s coming off back-to-back fantastic regular seasons. And he was The Man last week against Arizona.
During the game one of my friends raised the question of whether or not Brees has put himself into Hall of Fame discussion. While he was mostly just solid in San Diego for four seasons, he’s been fantastic in New Orleans the last four.
He eclipsed 5,000 yards passing last season and has 34 touchdowns in back-to-back campaigns. He’s been to four Pro Bowls and he’s been a first team All-Pro. And after tonight he’s earned a trip to the Super Bowl.
Brees’ can’t match Kurt Warner, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre or Tom Brady yet in terms of rings. But I was surprised to see that he’s right on Brady’s tail in terms of passing yards and just a couple thousand behind Warner in the same category. And he is right in the mix with them in touchdowns as well. He’s got a long way to go to catch Manning or Favre, both in those categories and in Pro Bowls and All Pro teams. But he would seem to be inching toward the discussion.
What do you all think? Is he on his way to Canton, Ohio? Or, if not, what does he have to do to get there? And will your opinion change if he leads the Saints to a win in two weeks in Miami?
Personally, I think he’s got a long ways to go. Brady isn’t a near lock at this point because of his stats–it’s because of the rings. If Brees can pick up a ring this year, he stands a better chance–but he’s still be pretty fringe, in my eyes.
I think he is on the right track. Over 200 TD’s and over 30,000 passing yards is good. If he wins the Super Bowl his case is even better. He led the NFL in TD passes 2 times. He has a great comp. percentage. And he has years ahead of him. He will get in.