When many NFL fans around the world think of New Orleans Saintsone of, if not the first player they think of is Drew Brees. A franchise icon, one of the best quarterbacks to ever step on a football field, the man who brought a Super Bowl to New Orleans and a surefire first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee. However, it was possible that Brees never signed with the Saints and instead turned to the Miami Dolphins, where longtime Alabama head coach Nick Saban was running the show.
Nick Saban recently participated in “The Pivot” podcast with Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor and Channing Crowder to discuss a wide range of topics. One of the topics discussed was Drew Brees, his physical failure with the Dolphins, as well as the phone call Saban had with Brees’ agent regarding the length of time he needed the physical not to be made public, thus allowing the deal to go through for the Saints. He made it clear that looks were the reason he turned away, and also that he undoubtedly ended up regretting it.
“Now the other part is I had to call his agent and tell him we had a deal, but he didn’t pass the physical,” Saban recalled. “And he said ‘oh man Nick, you can’t tell people, he hasn’t passed the physical, I’ll never get him signed anywhere. And I said no one will know how long it took, he said about 72 hours, so I never told anyone for 72 hours, until he signed in New Orleans.
What’s intriguing about this is the response to this postin which former Saints head coach Sean Payton responded with an ominous message saying, “There’s a little missing in this room…” At the time of writing, no further context was provided. added, however, some have speculated that this could relate to the phone call Saban had with Brees after the fact regarding the physical exam.
In Brees’ book called “Coming Back Stronger”, there is an excerpt on pages 106-108 (found thanks to a reply message) who talks about the phone call he had with Saban after the medical exam failed. This phone call basically boiled down to Brees calling him and trying to figure out whether Saban really wanted him or not, physical or not. Saban would make it clear that physical was physical, and that’s what he had to believe, while Brees thought his answer seemed “scripted” to some extent. Brees had already received positive affirmations from the Saints regarding their beliefs in his abilities and recovery, which ultimately led him to sign there rather than with the Dolphins.
The whole situation is obviously somewhat tricky, even nearly 20 years later, since Saban would eventually return to Alabama in 2007 and Sean Payton remains in the NFL to this day (although obviously both had careers extremely successful in their own right). . Brees ultimately became a franchise defining player that the Saints still struggle to live without, and the Dolphins traded a second-round pick for Dante Culpepper who was cut the following offseason.
This article was originally published on Saints Wire: Nick Saban shares his version of Drew Brees’ fateful 2006 phone call
