New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees had in the past talked about the possibility that he could still be suiting up at the age of 45.
Just a few months from his 40th birthday, Brees is still playing at an elite level. He heads into Week 5 having completed nearly 76 percent of his passes for 1,295 yards with eight touchdowns and zero interceptions. If this is any indication, Brees has a lot more tread left on those ties.
Though, it seems he’s now backtracking from his previous statement. In an in-depth conversation with Jay Glazer of The Athletic, Brees admitted he could still play at a high level at 45 years old. Though, the caveat here is that he has no plans to do that.
“Do I feel like I could play this game for a lot longer? Until I’m 45 and beyond? Yes I do, if that was truly what I wanted to do I feel like I could do that,” the future Hall of Famer said. “But I’m telling you I’ll walk away from this game prior to that.”
In many ways, this makes perfect sense. A true family man, Brees seems unwilling to risk long-term health problems by hanging on to his gridiron career for too long.
On the field, he’s still among the best quarterbacks in the game. That doesn’t seem like it’s going to change any time soon. And if Brees were to play another five seasons, he’d legitimately break every regular season career mark for a quarterback in league history. After all, he’s set to break another one on Monday.