Quick Hit: A Look at Brees' Contract

This is a fun game...let's try to figure out how much Drew Brees $100,000,000 contract is really worth, shall we?

-Alright, let's pretend he'll be taxed 35% as a baseline (just to make it simple)...now my favorite Boiler of all time only starts with $65,000,000 (wah-wah).

-Let's also pretend that he doesn't have a penny to his name (which isn't close to true)...so he's starting out at zero.

-The King of New Orleans is currently 33 years old...and the average life expectancy is 78.2 years (it's less for NFL players, but since he's not a lineman, his life will probably be near the US average).  So, let's say Brees has around 45 years left to live.

-If that's the case, Andrew Christopher Brees can spend $3,348.55, each day for the rest of his life...and still leave $10,000,000 to his wife and two children to help them get by.

This calculation takes into account no investments...so these numbers would come from the J Money form of saving- stuffing it in a couch cushion in your parents' basement and taking it out as needed.

Now, it does sound like it'd be difficult to spend $3,348/day...so I have an idea- A fellow Purdue alum, let's call him "Doilerbowd" recently started a clothing company along with a few friends.  If Purdue's (arguably) greatest football player ever wanted to invest a mere $100,000 in this venture...he'd still have  $3,342.46 to spend per day...and is there any doubt he'd get a return on that investment?  I think not.

Just something to chew on, Drew & Mickey (because I'm sure they regularly visit this site).

Hey, if someone's gonna get paid a boatload of money, I'd prefer it'd be someone who gives back and is easy to cheer for...Brees is both.  I also like seeing guys who are great get what they deserve.  According to the market value, Brees is getting precisely what he deserves.

Congrats to Drew and family.

Every Now and Again, the Good Guys Win

I couldn't say no to those eyes either.

It seems the sports world, and the world in general are both filled with tales of unlikeable people having big success...but Purdue legend, and current Saint, Drew Brees is an exception to that rule.  Everyone knows what he's done on and off the field...as well as the fact that the city of New Orleans embraced him as openly as he embraced them.  Now, the Saints franchise will give him a big ole hug, figuratively speaking.

In the very near future, Brees might become the NFL's richest player ever...edging out Peyton Manning's contract from a few months ago. Click here for more info.

Hopefully the Saints will have more than 6 or 7 defensive players on the field this coming season...Even the wizard of NOLA will have a difficult time winning with that depleted D on the other side of the ball.

Coronation

Purdue's favorite son reaches the pinnacle.

Drew Brees grew up in Texas and went 28-0-1 as a high school QB in Austin. But none of the big time Texas schools wanted Drew. He was too small. He'd hurt his knee in high school. He wasn't the right material for them.

Drew went on to Purdue, becoming the favorite player of many of us. He took over Joe Tiller's offense in 1998 and produced, without question, the most exciting moments of the past 40 years of Boilermaker football. He's remained a loyal Boilermaker, still doing ads for local businesses in West Lafayette as well as donating $1.5 million back to the University.

Drew's next stop was with the San Diego Chargers, where (as hard as this is to imagine) there were questions about whether he could make it in the NFL. Eventually, Drew persevered and became successful, leading the Chargers from poor back to respectable. However, they had acquired Phil Rivers and decided when Drew's "franchised" year was up, after the 2005 season, that they would let him walk. And he did. But not before grotesquely wrecking his throwing shoulder in his final play as a Charger, on a meaningless fumble recovery, in a meaningless game...for a team that no longer wanted him anyway.

He gutted out months of rehab in order to be ready for the 2006 season, for whoever took a chance on him.

The only two teams to show interest in him as a free agent were Miami and New Orleans. Miami eventually decided he wasn't worth the risk and went with *cough/laugh* Daunte Culpepper. Drew signed with New Orleans, a team coming off a horrid year after playing their whole 2005 season away from home following Katrina.

In 2006, Drew quietly led the Saints to within one win of the Super Bowl. They took a dip the following two seasons, though Drew most certainly did not, throwing for over 5,000 yards in 2008.

In 2009, the Saints put it all together. But many felt the 5-0 Giants were better than the 4-0 Saints in October. The Saints crushed New York. Many felt the Pats would be a challenge -- the Saints waxed New England. Many felt the Vikings and Brett Favre would take out the Saints, who hadn't played a complete game in a long time. The Saints still found a way. And then, of course, for these past two weeks, all we've heard about is Peyton's second Super Bowl title. It sounded forgone.

As recently as this morning even, the doofuses on ESPN were debating whether or not Drew Brees was an "elite" quarterback. I guess it was up for debate because he hadn't won a Super Bowl. Which is a simply idiotic debate. The guy is one of the absolute best in the league, much the way Dan Fouts and Dan Marino were -- two guys who never won a Super Bowl. Drew needed to do nothing else to prove he was an elite quarterback.

But then, Drew's been overcoming being not giving him the credit he deserves or believing in him fully for a long, long time. Going back to the end of high school, when nobody really recruited him in Texas and he wound up at Purdue. And changed all of our football-viewing lives for the better.

Drew Brees went 32 of 39 tonight in a nearly flawless peformance and beat a Colts team that has looked unbeatable all season. He beat the unflappable Peyton Manning. Before that he beat Kurt Warner and Brett Favre. And now he is a Super Bowl champion and a Super Bowl MVP.

Congrats, Drew. We couldn't be prouder. And since all three of us here at Boiled Sports became papas in the past six weeks, the below photo made us saps love it all even more.

Who dat Boiler? He's Drew Brees...champion.

Joe Tiller, Game Changer?

Was this man partially responsible for changing the game?

This is a bit off the current topics of the season, but since it's Super Bowl week, I thought it might be appropriate. I was listening to the radio today and every radio show in America is being done from "radio row" at the Super Bowl and Tiki Barber was on. He was discussing the current state of the game and, of course, the upcoming game this weekend. And a point he made really resonated with me and made me wonder if it was possible that Joe Tiller had some hand in changing the way the game of football is played....nationwide.

Tiki was discussing the Super Bowl combatants and he commented on how Indy's rushing offense is 29th in the league -- and how that doesn't matter at all, because of how surgical Peyton Manning is. Fair point. He went on to talk about how the position of running back is quickly becoming less relevant to the point where he expects it to soon be less relevant than ever. This is because everyone runs some variation of the spread offense and bubble screens and quick outs and slants -- when done precisely -- are just as effective as a first down run play that used to be the bread-and-butter of every offense out there. You always ran on first down unless you were some wild-ass, Bill Walsh offense. And he was considered kind of kooky when he first ran it in the NFL.

So yes, the West Coast offense existed -- and succeeded -- for a number years, starting with those '80s Forty-Niners teams. But it's safe to say everyone else mainly relied on the tried and true method of success (and the "conventional wisdom" of many football lifers): run on first down, run on second down, maybe pass on third down. Oh, and the quarterback spent almost all of his time under center. The shotgun was a gimmick, sort of, and something that good defenses felt they could use to their advantage because it was almost always a sign of a sure passing down.

Then something funny happened over the past ten years or so. Spread offenses took over. They say football is a "copycat" sport (see the ridiculous proliferation of the dumb-ass, 1940s Wildcat offense) and so as spread offenses began to succeed more, more teams began to institute them. This spread (no pun intended) like wildfire, burning through the college ranks and down to high school, to the point where the guy currently referred to as maybe the best college football player ever can't get comfortable taking a snap from center. Crazy.

Joe Tiller came to Purdue in 1997 and immediately implemented a spread offense, infamously called "basketball on grass," a term that is still used by know-nothing commentators today, even when Purdue is running more plays on the ground than in the air. But think back -- Cowboy Joe's system in 1997 was a lot more revolutionary than it would be in 2010. Now, everybody runs a version of the spread. In 1997, approximately zero Big Ten teams ran such an offense. For years (up until his retirement, in fact), Tiller was cited as the reason that the Big Ten's offensive statistics and approach changed. Tiller began passing on first down and frequently "using the pass to set up the pass." We all loved it, of course, because it completely baffled Big Ten defenses (remember, that 1997 team was coming off a 3-8 1996 and didn't even really have the personnel for such an offense) and allowed the Boilers to race to a 9-win season. It was amazing.

Before long, more offenses in the Big Ten opened it up, as did many offenses around the country at that time. Just prior to that, what kinds of teams won national titles in college football? Teams like Nebraska, running the effing OPTION. Now what kinds of teams win it? Teams like Florida and Alabama and USC. Sure, they're not all overly pass-happy teams, but the threat of their passing attack is one of the keys to making them successful. Nebraska used to win titles with quarterbacks who had no business even being referred to as quarterbacks.

Whereas winning Super Bowls at the NFL level used to be done with running game and crushing defense, the St. Louis Rams of '99-'01 showed that you could be very successful (and win a Super Bowl) by passing the sh-t out of the ball and playing defense once in a while. The Rams did what nobody had ever been able to do -- outscore everyone.

So the question I ask you is this: Did Joe Tiller play some significant role in changing the way the game is played? Clearly, I'm not silly enough to think he was the cause, but is it fair to say that what he brought to the Big Ten helped make the pass-happy, spread approach more mainstream?

Well, the 29th-best rushing team in the NFL is playing against Joe Tiller's first big recruit and the man who ran his offense better than anyone.

Both Saints and Vikings Get What They Deserve

"Who had no interceptions or gray stubble and is going to the Super Bowl? This guy."

What did you think was going to happen, Vikings fans?

Yesterday's NFL conference title games could not have gone better, at least for me (and, really, isn't that what's important?). The Jets were finally beaten (seriously, they didn't even belong in the playoffs), the Saints -- led by our favorite guy -- made their first Super Bowl, and Brett Favre reached into the hearts of every Vikings fan out there and tore their hearts from their bodies. Simply awesome. I dine on your tears, Vikings fans. They are my sustenance.

Now, I really have nothing against Vikings fans. Actually, I don't really know any. But any time you welcome in the guy you fricking hated for 16 years and lots of you begin wearing that guy's jersey... well, you're asking for karma to kick you in the nuts. Idiot Minny fans are getting exactly what any sentient person with a functioning brain knew they were getting when they signed up for a season of Brett Favre: some exciting plays, countless features on the guy, gray stubble, stupid commercials, probably more wins that Tavaris Jackson gets you....oh, and a crushing, devastating, backbreaking interception at the absolute worst possible time.

I don't care that he had only seven INTs this year. That is indeed damn impressive. I admit I was shocked he stuck to their gameplan. Part of the reason he was so good this year was that he had some amazing weapons and actually let them work as they should. But when those weapons began misfiring and spilling footballs all over the Superdome turf? Well, Favre did what Favre always does -- tried to "make something happen." And he did. For the Saints.

The Saints, meanwhile, did their best to give this one away, being outgained by 200+ yards and by Reggie Bush deciding to not call a fair catch when he was about to be mowed down by a Minnesota special teamer. Bushy fumbled and then it took Adrian Peterson's fumbleitis to give it right back. Seriously, what the hell was that all about? How often does a team turn the ball over a half-dozen times and still be able to make a claim they should have won? The Saints not having a clue as to how to fall on the ball is a part of that. Seriously, the Vikes might have had eight turnovers if the Saints had run a fumble recovery drill at all this season.

As some of you know, I was manning the BS Twitter feed and Seth Meyers of SNL made some smart-ass remark late in the game about how he figured the Saints were re-thinking their defensive game plan of blitzing the hell out of Favre since they had no sacks to that point. Um, they had caused six fumbles and two picks. So, uh, yeah, Seth, their defense was doing something right. Oh and they beat Favre into a bruised mess. Stick to late-night comedy. Oh, wait, you don't do that well, either.

We'll have more wandering thoughts at the Super Bowl approaches, but for now, let me get back to some examples of the idiots I was discussing up above.

The Idiot Brigade

--Deion Sanders tried to defend the move last night on NFL Network. Ah, no, Deion. No, sir. Even Michael Irvin knew it was a terrible move and Irvin's probably on heroin.

--Peter King made it clear to everyone that he thought the "high-low" hit on Favre should have been flagged. Okay. What does that have to do with how bad Favre sucks when it comes to late-game decisions? King also said not to blame Childress for this loss, then proceeded to name a bunch of boneheaded decisions Childress made. The full evisceration of King's column is done here. I especially like how King complains again about the overtime rules of the NFL and how it didn't give poor Farvey "a chance." Uhh, Peter, he had his chance, at the end of regulation. If he does basically anything else other than what he did, the Vikes are probably going to the Super Bowl. Way to see the big picture.

--This guy and his kid (I guess) encapsulate being a Vikes fan this year: Probably not really being 100% on board but trying to talk yourself into it, including with a Favre jersey. I could watch this clip over and over:



--This idiot, who won't shave his beard until the Vikings win the Super Bowl. You sir, are a moron. And that's not even the worst part of the story. No, the worst part is how he grudgingly allowed his mangy, disgusting beard to be trimmed for his granddaughter's wedding, but wanted "Favre" stitched on the back of his suit. This kind of a-hole makes me even MORE glad, if that's possible, that the Vikes lost in such crushing fashion.

--Favre, himself. I love that he claimed during the postgame press conference that he hadn't even seen the INT yet, so he doesn't know exactly what happened. Watch this video and tell me how he "didn't see it yet"?



Okay, that was just an excuse to enjoy the Favreplosion again. Seriously, nothing better encapsulates his career than that -- getting his team to big games, but almost always pooping the bed once he gets there. In fact, all but once.

Delicious.

Big Weekend for Former Boilermakers

No kidding, right? Unless you live under a rock (okay, or if you're not an avid Purdue follower), you know that there are Boilermakers on every team left in the NFL's final four. So while we do sometimes talk NFL around here, we've been doing less of it lately -- however, over the next couple weeks, I think you'll be hearing a little more about it. Let's look at the combatants and the games this weekend. Because, hey, everyone else is.

New Orleans Saints versus Minnesota Vikings


One of Purdue's proudest sons is one win away from the Super Bowl for the second time in his four seasons with New Orleans. People forget that in Mr. Handsome's first year with the team, in 2006, they lost the championship game to the Bears. This was the year after they won only 3 games while playing their entire season away from New Orleans following Katrina. I remember this vividly because Drew had just gone to New Orleans and that August I was in Las Vegas and I put down a bet on the Saints to be NFC champs -- at 35-1. I was a believer in Drew. And I remember not telling anyone I had done that until they were eliminated, so as not to jinx it. Alas, the sucko Bears managed to Rex Grossman their way into the opportunity to get waxed by the Colts.

I'll be pontificating/hero-worshipping Drew a little more in a separate post later today, but for now let's get to this game.

I'm worried, and I'm not afraid to admit it. The Saints biggest weakness has been their run defense. And what is one of the Vikings strength? Of course, Adrian Peterson who, make no mistake, is an animal. I love this guy and let's all just agree that he's the reason Brett Favre has had an admittedly terrific season. Brett, to his credit, bought into the Vikings plan to run the hell out of Peterson until other teams committed to stopping him -- and then they'd punch 'em in the throat with a Brett Favre pass. This of course only works if Favre avoids his trademark crippling interceptions (all-time leader in INTs, by the way, though I don't recall them stopping the game for any ceremonies for that), which has done an amazing job of. This is Favre's lowest interception season ever -- EVER. And he still quietly threw for 4,200 yards. So as much as we collectively dislike this disingenuous hillbilly, he's playing possibly the best football he's ever played -- or at least his best in ten-plus years.

However, the playoffs are when the wheels often come flying off for Fav-ray. So we shall see.

Both sides have pretty decent defenses, but certainly their defenses are not what the teams are known for. On the Minnesota side is our old friend Ray Edwards, who terrorized Tony Romo, much to my delight. Seriously, is there anything better than seeing the Cowboys lose? Jerry Jones deserves nothing. He had one of the best coaches in the game, but his ego forced him to hire a series of bozos (not including Parcells, who eventually had enough on his own) and make himself the GM. Yes, a rich doofus owns the team and makes himself the GM. Even Mark Cuban's not that arrogant. But I digress.

Ray Edwards has blossomed into a hell of a defensive player. He's actually missed some practice time this week due to injury and while I never like to see a Boiler down, I'm okay if he doesn't make it out there to pressure Drew.

The Saints offense, as we've seen over and over this year, is explosive. And they're playing in one of the few home venues that truly can be considered a home-field advantage. I've seen games in the Superdome and it's a pretty great experience -- I can only imagine how deafening it is in the playoffs. And deafening is when opponents make mistakes, run the wrong route, etc. Here's hoping.

Saints 38, Vikings 34
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Indianapolis Colts versus New York Jets


Alright, let's get something straight -- the Jets aren't even in the playoffs if the Colts and Bengals don't lay down for them the last two weeks of the season. Sure, they've played very well and very opportunistically in the playoffs, but they shouldn't even be here. And let's make mistake -- no matter how much the Jets push their "Are they trying now?" motivation tactic (as they did against Cinci), the Colts are just as pissed off about that previous matchup. The Colts players were not pleased with the decision to lay down -- and that's what you expect out of competitors. I expect the Colts to want to win, and win big, showing everyone that they are indeed better than the Jets when they try for four quarters. Given that, I'm thinking Peyton Manning may get more snaps than Curtis Painter in the second half this time around. Going out on a limb here.

As for the Jets, I don't want to completely minimize them. They have a coach who has convinced them to truly believe and they have. Reportedly, at a team meeting on January 5, Rex Ryan mapped out their daily obligations, meetings, practices, etc., all the way through the Tuesday after the Super Bowl. On that day, the board said "PARADE." I give the fat man credit -- he's pushing all the right buttons.

And who has had some of the most critical catches for the Jetties? None other than Dustin Keller, former monster Boilermaker. Have you ever noticed how whenever they need a critical catch, Keller makes it? Can you remember any drops, legitimate or otherwise? And finally, is it me, or is Keller already one of the best YAC tight ends in the NFL? The guy turns short crossing patterns into 50 yard gains. I love the guy and wish he was on my team.

BUT.... let's look closer at the Jets success. Sure, the Jets have the number 1 rushing offense in the NFL. But that's skewed, because they also have an interception factory in Mark Sanchez. When you have a guy you don't trust to throw the ball, you run it incessantly and hope your defense makes some plays. Many teams have ridden this formula to success, usually with shoddy quarterbacks. And it's worked for the Jets because of the teams the Jets have played.

The Bengals looked listless and the Jets were ahead most of the day -- perfect formula for them. And the Chargers? Well, is anyone surprised the Chargers choked early again? I mean, when can we start piling on them as chokers and underachievers. I'm really tired of hearing about how "this is the year" for the Chargers. They've been good for essentially the entire LaDainian Tomlinson Era and, yet, they almost always seem to fall short of expectations. Cool, calm Phil Rivers leads them to one TD in the first half and winds up throwing a Farvian crippling interception that the Jets returned to the SD 16 yard line.... to a place where even Sanchez couldn't help but score. Suddenly, the pressure was on SD and the Jets ground them down. My point? I'm not impressed with the two teams the Jets beat. How they beat them? Yes, I'm impressed with that. But I don't think the Colts are like either of those teams. Coffee is for closers. The Colts are closers.

Colts 23, Jets 13

More On-The-Scene BS Reporting Coming Soon

In our ongoing quest to eventually have a restraining order put against us by Drew Brees, I'll be traveling to New Orleans next weekend to take in the Saints-Jets game and attempt to determine if Drew Brees is indeed the dreamiest and most talented quarterback in the NFL today.

I actually went last year, too, in December, but I never filed a report. The primary reason? I'm a lazy slug.

But Drew -- despite allowing interesting photographs to be taken (such as the one in this post and this one) -- really is quite possibly the best quarterback in the game today. How incredible is that? This is a guy who blew out his knee in high school and wasn't recruited much at all in his home state of Texas. He's a guy who Joe Tiller actually tried to recruit when he was still at Wyoming!

He wound up being our hero and he actually managed to get Purdue fans to believe. Anything was possible with Drew at the helm. Even a four interception game. The fun thing about Drew was that throwing four INTs didn't even necessarily mean our Boilers were going to lose. Only win more dramatically.

And when you think about it, he's also lifted the fan base of the previously mediocre Chargers, as well as the previously horrible Saints. The Saints are legit now. Mainly because of Mr. Brees.

So look for a full report after next weekend. Maybe. If I feel up to it. And can remember things.

Oh, and I hope I don't encounter the spelling bee champ below.

Drew, What Are You Doing?

Is it me, or does this look like a movie poster for Any Given Sunday 2?

Turns out, that lassie is Rita Benson LeBlance, the granddaughter of the Saints owner. She's 31, she'll probably be running the team one day soon, they're real and they're fantastic. Or so says Reggie Bush. Not really.

I do like that she's carrying the ball in thie photo, while wind blows her hair around and Drew and Reggie.... do what, exactly? Are they posing like New Kids on the Block or something?

New Orleans To Be Hit By Another Devastating Hurricane

Yeah, I'm sure I'm not the first one with that joke, but I am the most handsome.

For those who haven't heard yet, Jeremy Shockey -- reknown, overrated douchebag -- has been traded to the Saints for some ankle tape and a bucket of used athletic cups. Actually, no, the Giants got a couple of decent picks for him so that's a win-win, especially considering Kevin Boss proved to actually be a better tight end as a rookie than Shockey ever was.

Shockey never really fit into the Giants team atmosphere like everyone thought he might. The Giants, despite being a "New York" team, aren't as hatable as most NY squads and so Shockey's act did more to piss off the real football fans in the stadium. Sure, once or twice his helmet flew off from a collision and people were like, "Man, he's a gamer!" But mostly he just infuriated real Giants fans by doing things like dropping critical -- and easy to catch -- screen passes or elaborately signaling first down when the Giants were losing games. He definitely had the highest ratio of in-your-face moves to actual plays made in the league.

In the end, as a Giants fan, I'm really happy to have him gone because it means I don't have to root for him anymore. He's a Miami Hurricane, which means he's colossally arrogant and entitled to begin with and simply not capable of humility (witness the way he's acted since being proven wholly unnecessary to the Giants success -- the guy still acts like the team owes him something).

Sean Payton, the Saints head coach, was on the Giants staff under Fassel so he knows what he's getting. So maybe he'll know how to handle him. Or maybe Drew Brees will tattoo Shockey with a laser pass during mini-camps to show him he's not dealing with Eli anymore.

Regardless, good riddance jackass. We will not miss you.