Drew Brees Thinks He’ll Be Able To Play Until He’s 45

Drew Brees may be 35 years old, but the New Orleans Saints quarterback says he’s got plenty of good years left in the NFL.

As he reports for the team’s training camp, Brees talked with reporters about his NFL future. Drew has been in the spotlight already this offseason, with Sports Illustrated publishing an article on his rigorous workout routine, meant to keep the aging quarterback in strong shape.

Brees doesn’t believe his career is in a decline, saying he feels like he’s 25 years old.

“I think it’s a mindset,” Brees said. “Certainly there are things that come with getting a bit older. A bit more maintenance, a bit more recovery, some of these things. Maybe a little bit different in the way that you train, and I feel like I’ve evolved along with that. But I think so much of it is a mindset.

“If I tell myself I’m 25, I’m 25. And honest to God, that’s my mindset. I could play for another 10 years. And that would be my goal. I mean, I’m taking it one year at a time, but there’s no reason why I couldn’t do that.”

Brees said he’s looking for more than just Super Bowl titles, but instead an intense desire to finish his career at the top.

“I love to compete. I love to win. I love the game of football. I like to do things that people haven’t done before or that people would say are impossible or extremely difficult to do,” Brees said. “At the end of the day, I’d love for people to be able to look at my career, my legacy and say, ‘Man, he did it the right way. He’s a pro. And he did for a long time and was consistent.’

If Brees can make it that long, there’s a great chance that he surpasses Brett Favre as the all-time career passing leader. Brees is currently 20,757 yards behind Favre, but if he can play another 10 years then he would just need to average 2,075 yards a season to pass Favre. Even if Brees can just play six more seasons, he would need to hit 3,460 yards a year to end up No. 1 of all time.

Of course to achieve this, Drew Brees is going to have to hope that Peyton Manning doesn’t discover the same fountain of youth. Manning is currently No. 2 on the list, with close to 14,000 more yards than Brees.