“It’s great to have at that position because you never know who’s going to gripe you out worse, coach [Sean] Payton or No. 9. It’s good to play with him. It’s a blessing.’’
In the days leading up to tomorrow’s matchup against the Patriots, the spotlight focused on Brees, who has led the Saints to their best start in franchise history. The Saints are 10-0 and on pace to break some of the offensive records set by the Patriots in 2007. The statistics and the success have stretched on long enough to boost Brees into the Tom Brady-Peyton Manning debates about the league’s best quarterback.
The building process that began in Payton’s first year in 2006 is blossoming into a historic season for Saints fans, who once wore brown bags over their heads to games in shame.
“It’s an honor to be put anywhere near the same category as [Brady],’’ Brees said. “I think he’s an exceptional player and has been for a long time. He will go down as one of the best of all time.
“I definitely think that if you just stood the two of us next to each other, we wouldn’t look anything alike, so maybe you’d say that our styles are a little different. But in the end you want the result to be the same: You win football games and you win championships.
“Obviously he has three and I’m still trying to get that first. I have a lot of respect for him.’’
In comparing Brees and Brady, Saints fullback Heath Evans, who has played with both, said they have “everything’’ in common. Statistically, the numbers are similar this year: Brees has completed 218 of 320 passes for 2,746 yards and a league-high 22 touchdowns. Brady has completed 261 of 393 passes for 3,049 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Evans, who is on injured reserve, played four seasons with the Patriots, including 2007, and said both quarterbacks are smart and have “been blessed by God with a great brain, end of story,’’
Evans added, “Most people don’t think as accurately or as quickly as they do. The stuff they can see and process in a 15-second window of time . . . I wish I could think like that. At the end of the day, they’re smarter than everybody else.’’
