Drew Brees says but for shoulder, he probably would have played three more years

Quarterback Drew Brees retired after the 2020 season. But for issues with his arm, the retirement might have happened after the most recent NFL season.

“Honestly, man, if my right arm was still working, I probably would’ve played another three years,” Brees said Thursday in connection with the news that he’ll join the Saints Hall of Fame, via Katherine Terrell of ESPN.com. “My body feels great. My body can play, my right arm can’t. Unfortunately that’s what kind of forced me to step away. And it was time too.”

Brees said he seriously considered ending his retirement, but his arm wouldn’t allow it. And the arm problem traces to the shoulder injury he suffered in the final week of the 2005 season, his last game with the Chargers.

“At the end of the day, it’s like, how capable . . . am I to do the job, right?” Brees said. “I would’ve run QB draws, I would’ve done whatever. I would’ve done some veer option. We would’ve pulled out all the stops. I was ready. Pull out the high school playbook.”

Although the surgery in early 2006 ultimately cut his career short, he was still able to play at a high level for a long time.

The surgery was successful enough to prolong Brees’s playing career by 15 years, but he said that Dr. James Andrews warned him that the shoulder would eventually degenerate to the point where throwing would no longer be possible.

“He said you’re on the fast track to a degenerative shoulder, Brees said regarding his conversations with Dr. James Andrews. “And so at some point this will catch up with you. All that wear and tear and all the work that was done. .. . . Unfortunately there will be attrition at some point. I hung on as long as I could.”

He hung on long enough to author a Hall of Fame career, which is amazing in light of the fact that he believed after the injury that he might be done.

“I really thought my career was over,” Brees said. “Five years into it. I really thought I may never play again. . . . There came a moment after the surgery where I could’ve taken the insurance policy. . . . Here I was facing a career-ending injury and if I never played again, I could collect the insurance policy. And it was a good insurance policy. Point being, when that happens and all the sudden you just get a second chance . . . you just have so much gratitude in your heart.”

Saints fans will forever have gratitude for Brees, given what he did for the team and the city and the entire state. It’s really an amazing story of determination and perseverance from a guy who willed himself back from an injury that easily could have derailed his career before it ever fully blossomed.