Football

Drew Brees sets NFL all-time record for completions

By Jason Romano Sep 24, 2018
Drew Brees in 2018 (Photo Courtesy: AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

At 39 years old, most quarterbacks are either retired or on the decline. For Drew Brees in 2018, he’s still one of the NFL’s best.

In the second quarter of Brees’ and Saints’ game against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, he completed a 17-yard pass to Michael Thomas, giving him 6,301 career completions — passing Brett Favre for the most in NFL history.

“I hope there’s a lot more coming, but I just think about all of the people that had a hand in that,” Brees said after the game. “A lot of hands have caught those passes, and a lot of guys have blocked to make those happen. They all are a part of this, absolutely.”

Brees finished with a spectacular game, throwing for 396 yards and three TD passes, while also scoring the game-tying and game-winning touchdowns on runs, the latter in overtime to give the Saints a 43-37 win on the road.

Following Brees’ performance, teammate Benjamin Watson took to Twitter to share his heartfelt congratulations.

Through three games, Brees has been nearly perfect, completing 80.6 percent of his passes for 1,083 yards with eight touchdown passes and zero interceptions.

Destined for the Hall of Fame (when he becomes eligible five years after his retirement), Brees already holds many NFL records, including touchdown passes in consecutive games, career completion percentage (67.1) and the single-season completion percentage (72.0 in 2017). If Brees can throw for more than 418 yards in his matchup this Sunday against the Giants, he’d pass Peyton Manning for most passing yards in NFL history. If not then, he’ll almost surely break the record at home in New Orleans in Week 5 (Oct. 8) against the Redskins on Monday Night Football.

Even more than his play on the field, Brees says one of the best decisions he’s ever made is to make Jesus Christ the Lord of his life.

“I remember sitting in church on my 17th birthday,” Brees told The Increase. “I was locked in on the pastor as he was talking about how the Lord was looking for a few good men to carry on His kingdom, to spread His word, and to live the life that He had planned for them, and that spoke to me. And it was at that moment that I accepted Jesus Christ in my heart and knew that there was something bigger planned for me than just sports.”

Brees said his heart was changed that day and that the fear he had of the unknown had disappeared.

“From that moment on, with Jesus in my life, I knew that the fear of the unknown was there,” Brees said in an interview with The Rock in San Diego. “With Jesus in my heart and in my life, I’m not afraid of the unknown, I’m not afraid to go to Purdue. I’m not afraid of dropping in the second round and being drafted by the San Diego Chargers. I know that God has that plan and I’m going to trust Him. I’ll be led by faith and not by sight, 2 Corinthians 5:7.”

The 2-1 Saints travel to face the 1-2 New York Giants on Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET.

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