Drew Brees sat in the passenger seat as his father-in-law drove through the drive-thru at an Arby’s in Birmingham, Alabama.
The year was 2006, and Brees was staying in Alabama with his in-laws while rehabbing a right shoulder that he wasn’t so sure would ever be good enough for him to ever throw again.
An unknown number popped up on Brees' cell phone as they sat waiting to place their order.
Brees answered.
The guy on the other end of the phone introduced himself as “Sean Payton, head coach of the New Orleans Saints.”
Brees immediately hit the mute button, looked over at his father-in-law and asked a simple question: “Who in the hell is Sean Payton?”
The rest, as they say, is history.
Payton had found his quarterback, one who would help carry the New Orleans Saints to unchartered territory for the next 15 years.
It was the beginning of a record-breaking career in what will eventually be a two-stop Hall of Fame tour for the guy who wore No. 9.
The first stop came Thursday afternoon at the Hilton Riverside in Downtown New Orleans, where Brees was inducted into the Saints Hall of Fame. The next stop will be the Pro Football Hall of Fame, where Brees will no doubt be a first-ballot inductee when he becomes eligible in 2026.
“My time here was special beyond my wildest dreams and beyond what I thought I could ever be blessed with,” Brees said.
Brees spoke for 48 minutes Thursday, reliving some of his fondest memories from his playing days.
If there was a Hall of Fame for storytelling, the 750 people in attendance Thursday most certainly would’ve voted Brees into that one, too.
Here are some of the stories he shared in addition to the one about the phone call in the Arby’s drive-thru:
• The brutal training camps in the scorching heat at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi
• The time teammate Scott Fujita suffered an injury during training camp when the team visited a water park
• The time the team cut a punter right before a game in London and ended up signing the first punter they could find who had a passport
And perhaps the best story of them all?
• The time before the 2007 season when Sean Payton made the team dig a grave by the team facility and bury all of the trophies and plaques from the season before when the Saints reached the NFC title game. It was Payton’s way of burying the past and looking forward. Well, the Saints started that 2007 season 0-4. So Brees and three of his teammates, along with their wives, decided to go dig up the coffin and remove all of those accolades.
“We had to get our mojo back,” Brees explained.
They won their next four games but finished just 7-9 that season.
The real mojo came two seasons later when Brees led the Saints to their Super Bowl title.
Brees, who delivered so many fond memories to Saints fans during his playing days, wanted to make sure to give them a few more Thursday. It’s why he shared so many stories.
“I wanted to make this entertaining and fun and give fans a true insight into a lot of things that happen behind the scenes,” Brees said. “Honestly, that’s what builds the team. That’s what builds the culture. You wonder why you spend so much time investing into this game. It’s for moments like those that stick with you forever. They may make you laugh. They may make you cry. But at the end of the day, it made you better and brought you together and allowed you to accomplish something that you never thought possible.”
Many of Brees' former teammates who helped make those goals possible attended Thursday’s ceremony. Payton, whose Denver Broncos were in town to play the Saints on Thursday night, also stopped by.
Former Saints tight end Jimmy Graham, one of Brees’ favorite targets during their playing days together, introduced Brees.
“You gave us all hope,” Graham said. “You didn’t just lead the team. You led the city.”
Graham said Brees made him better. It’s the reason he made time in his busy schedule to fly in to introduce the guy who threw him so many touchdowns.
“I would fly to the moon to be able to praise him for the man that he is,” Graham said. “One of the greatest compliments to a leader is the people he has around him and how he makes them better. You can’t tell me anybody who played with him that wasn’t better because of him. It's just the way he played and practiced. I’ve spoken a lot of places, even at the White House. But being able to introduce him was much bigger for me.”
Saints owner Gayle Benson presented Brees his black Saints Hall of Fame jacket at halftime Thursday night in a ceremony that ended with a second-line parade on the field. His wife, Brittany, along with kids Baylen, Bowen, Callen and Rylen, joined him.
In two years, he will get a gold jacket in Canton, Ohio.
And someday, his name will go up in the rafters of the Superdome when the team decides to put him in the prestigious Ring of Honor.
He'll have more stories to share by then about the team and the city that will forever be near and dear to him.
“Regardless of where I am, where I live, where I travel to, New Orleans is home,” Brees said. “When I step foot in the Dome, the Dome is home. It just feels like that’s where I belong. This is one of those cities, one of those communities that once you’re a part of it, it’s in your blood forever.”
