Former New Orleans Saints wide receiver Donte’ Stallworth shared an awesome story about Drew Brees on Monday, the night Brees set an NFL record.
Brees added another accomplishment to his Hall of Fame career during Monday night’s game against Washington. On a 62-yard touchdown pass to Tre’Quan Smith, Brees set the record for passing yards in a career, surpassing the 71,940 mark established by Peyton Manning.
Shortly after, congratulatory remarks poured in from around the sports world. Among those to give Brees a shoutout was Stallworth, a former 1st-round pick who caught 23 touchdowns with the Saints. Stallworth was with New Orleans from 2002-2005 and says he and Brees were recovering from surgery together prior to the 2006 season. Stallworth was a member of the Saints at the time and Brees was leaving the Chargers as a free agent. The two started talking about Brees joining the Saints, and it was at that point that Stallworth learned just how dedicated to the game Brees is.
After the 2005 season, both @drewbrees and myself had shoulder surgery in Birmingham, Alabama — by the great Dr. Andrews. Drew was coming off a horrific injury to his throwing arm, and I was having an arthroscopic procedure to stitch up my labrum and rotator cuff.
— Donté Stallworth (@DonteStallworth) October 9, 2018
One day during rehab together, Drew turned to me and said, “hey I talked to your boy the other day.” I had no clue who he was talking about. “Who?” “Sean Payton,” he replied. I immediately got excited at the prospects of catching TD passes from Brees in a Sean Payton offense.
— Donté Stallworth (@DonteStallworth) October 9, 2018
I told Drew, “dude, you HAVE to come to New Orleans — Sean’s offense is a QB and WR’s dream. What are you thinking, do we have a shot?” Brees said, “I like Sean, and I think we could do some special things in New Orleans — (post-Katrina) the city could use a winner right now.”
— Donté Stallworth (@DonteStallworth) October 9, 2018
Then Drew began reeling off my 2005 season stats, the routes I ran the most, and what he envisioned we would be successful at. But not just me, he knew the depth chart of every position, and their contract situation.
— Donté Stallworth (@DonteStallworth) October 9, 2018
(Another TD) He knew the players like he was on the Saints offense in 2005, but he wasn’t — he was a Charger. He knew the whole offense, depth chart, successes the only way you could. He watched film and studied it vigorously. I sat there in awe like how the hell??
— Donté Stallworth (@DonteStallworth) October 9, 2018
That’s when I knew I first witnessed the greatness, that’s when I knew Brees was on a different level. His play shows the work, the meticulous attention to detail week in and week out, over the course of many seasons. Congrats to the all-time passing leader!
— Donté Stallworth (@DonteStallworth) October 9, 2018
The two never ended up playing together as Stallworth was traded to the Eagles in 2006, but the story shows part of what makes Brees so special.
There will no doubt be several rees stories told over the coming days and weeks. This will likely be among the best of them.
