Drew Brees' response to being called out of retirement by Saints leaves NFL fans in splits
Former quarterback Drew Brees retired after 20 years in the NFL and now works for NBC Sports on their pregame show Football Night in America. At the age of 42, Brees seems happy with the current phase of his post-NFL life.
According to reports, Brees' most recent team, the New Orleans Saints, reached out to the 13-time Pro Bowl quarterback for a possible return.
In response, the quarterback sent the franchise back a picture of him golfing, indicating that he's fine with his retirement and his career working as an NFL analyst at NBC.
Brees is the franchise’s all-time leader in passing yards (68,010), passing touchdowns (491), and games played (228). Saints head coach Sean Payton could still use Brees as the team is 30th in the NFL in passing yards.
However, the "bat signal" did not manage to pull him away from the golf course in the Aloha State of Hawaii to play one last time for the Saints.
In addition to trying to lure Brees away from NBC, New Orleans also reached out to former San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers away from coaching. Rivers is the current head coach at St. Michael Catholic High School in Fairhope, Alabama. He also turned down an opportunity for a comeback with the Saints.
The Saints have started three quarterbacks so far this season: Jameis Winston, Trevor Siemian and Taysom Hill. With both Siemian and Hill on the reserve/COVID-19 list, the Saints will turn to their fourth signal caller in Week 16 against the Miami Dolphins: Ian Book, who was their fourth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
New Orleans have a 7-7 record and sit in second place in the NFC South. They are still in the playoff hunt in the NFC. They sit in ninth position and need to win out to have a shot at the postseason.
Mele Kalikimaka, bat signal and more from Twitter on Drew Brees' answer to Saints
Twitter user John Sigler, who is the managing editor for The Saints Wire, summed up Brees' reply to the Saints in a simple tweet:
the Saints: hey man can you come run it back one more time?
Drew Brees, barefoot on a golf course: Mele Kalikimaka 🤙
Another Twitter user named Ralph Malbrough wrote that Brees should've come back for one last time at home in a Saints uniform:
Brees should’ve came back and played Monday. He could have gotten the proper send off in his uniform. I understand why he didn’t but it’d have been amazing
@Amie_Just tweeted out something exclusively for those wondering where Brees is:
For the “where’s Drew Brees” crowd… he’s in Hawaii. (Not that he’s come out of retirement for any reason, but…) https://t.co/0jIEmiXKwy
@karinasophia12 tweeted about Brees' activities even as "Who Dat Nation" continues to panic about its quarterback situation:
*saints fanbase losing our minds over the quarterback situation*
Drew Brees: (golfing in Hawaii) https://t.co/UOkeBEZFT0
@ProFootballTalk in their tweet made reference to the "bat signal" from the Batman universe before adding that "Batman isn't trading a microphone for a helmet":
The Saints reportedly put up the bat signal for @drewbrees this week. But Batman isn't trading in a microphone for a helmet. wp.me/pbBqYq-c9lH https://t.co/kuoqYTpr0A
@GhostOfAdamGase shared how Ian Book would have reacted after learning that the Saints had reached out to Brees and Rivers:
Ian Book waking up and reading reports of Saints reaching out to Drew Brees and Phillip Rivers to start monday. https://t.co/mXLIyqJjcQ
@JonoBarnes mentioned the number of quarterbacks the Saints have employed since Brees' retirement:
I know finding a franchise QB is hard but I didn’t think we’d have FOUR different QBs in one calendar year since Drew Brees retired.
@OddsCheckerUS expressed confusion over the fact that even though he "was given a ton of snaps" during Brees' time behind center, Taysom Hill hasn't managed to "sniff the field with Trevor Siemian at quarterback":
Taysom Hill was given a ton of snaps when Drew Brees was behind center but can't sniff the field with Trevor Siemian at quarterback.
What? https://t.co/pOMqSLu0Ii
@HollywoodxKev tweeted that the Saints would rather call Brees to play for them on Monday than have Ian Book on the field:
They rather call up a retired Brees than play Ian book Monday 😭 I’m cryin twitter.com/amie_just/stat… https://t.co/iHKKUNUwWz
Also Checkout: Drew Brees super bowl wins