Drew Brees on two-point conversions, Seau/Harrison, sons rooting for other teams
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees joined the show to talk about a variety of topics. Here are some of his remarks …
DP: Ben Roethlisberger wants to make the Steelers into the Golden State Warriors. He said the Steelers should be going for a two-point conversion after every touchdown. What do you think about that philosophy?
DB: Bring the splash brother philosophy to the NFL ,huh? You know, I think there’s probably something to be said for it. Especially now that they’ve moved the extra point back. And yet it does add some more variability. I think there’s some people that would argue that you would go for it on 4th down a majority of times as well. And again, depending on the offense that you ran and the guys that you have. Certainly the weapons that the Steelers have maybe they should be going for it on fourth down and going for two every time. I think every body would love to see that.
DP: But if you were given full autonomy that you could do whatever you wanted to do … fourth down, going for two-point conversions, what would you do?
DB: That’s a good question. I feel like if we went for two that we could make it work 50 percent of the time. And I think fourth down depending where you are on the field, I feel like if you’re in a manageable situation we could convert most fourth downs. So I’m all for it.
DP: You going to tell Coach Payton about that?
DB: Well it’s his decision but I don’t need to tell Coach Payton to be more aggressive. [Laughs] I think we got that part taken care of.
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DP: Is it easier for a rookie quarterback coming in now or tougher?
DB: Well I think they’re more prepared now than they ever have been. And you can attribute that to any number things. I think you look at what the opportunities are for high school quarterbacks that we’re not there when I was coming out of high school. These 7-on-7 passing leagues and the amount of time and commitment that they put towards the game and mastering the game and there position is infinitely more now than it was even 10 years ago. Then you get to college and I feel like theres so much carry0over and crossover with coaching and with systems from college to the NFL. You know you get coaches that have been at both levels and basically run the same system. Now obviously the amount of time you put into it at the NFL level is much greater than college. You’re limited with kids having to go to class. And there limited to a certain number of hours per week on the field in college and spring ball and those kind of things. Where as in the NFL it’s a full time job. But the bottom line is by the time guys get to the NFL, they have put thousands of more hours than guys 10 years ago. So yes I believe that they are more prepared. Now defenses continue to evolve, offenses continue to evolve so the complexity is bit more as well. So that requires more time on task. But I think guys are more prepared now to come into this game and be successful than ever before at the quarterback position especially.
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DP: What was your welcome to the NFL moment?
DB: It was practice. Because when I got to the Chargers in 2001 they had Junior Seau and Rodney Harrison on defense. Til this day I’ve never seen two guys practice, prepare and play like those two. Everyday was game day for those guys. Whether you had pads on or not. And there intensity and just there emotion and the way that they competed each and every day was awesome. It was unbelievable. I mean they were football players and they were leaders and man they set the bar. So I’ll always remember those two guys as being really influential on my career, especially that first year just being eye-opening. Like wow this is the NFL and these are the type of guys I need to go up against now.