Drew Brees, at 47, Worked Out for a Possible Broncos Return Before Last Season's AFC Title Game
With Bo Nix's ankle broken, Denver's offensive assistants called Brees the week of the game, and he tested his arm before wrist discomfort ended the idea; Sean Payton says he was never told.
Drew Brees seriously considered coming out of retirement to play for the Denver Broncos in last January's AFC Championship Game against New England after Bo Nix fractured his ankle in the divisional-round win over Buffalo, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported, citing multiple sources.
How far did it go?
Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and assistant Pete Carmichael, both from Brees' Saints days, reached out early that week. Brees, who had turned 47 two days before Nix's injury, agreed to work out to see whether his body could handle it. He felt wrist discomfort during the workout and decided against it. "Something happened where I thought there might be a chance where I could play that week," Brees said on the "New Heights" podcast. "I was not there in terms of being physically able to play." A Broncos source told ESPN the plan would have been for Brees to be "1A or 1B" with Jarrett Stidham, and that Brees' pitch was: "I know how to win a game like that."
What did Sean Payton know?
Nothing at the time. Payton, Brees' coach for 15 seasons in New Orleans, said his assistants kept him out of the initial conversations and that he learned of it only in the offseason: "I just know I was the odd man out. I never heard anything about it." Denver lost the title game 10-7 with Stidham starting.
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Sources
- ESPN: Sources: Drew Brees mulled playing for Broncos in AFC title game
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