NFL: 30 greatest seasons from players 30 and older
By Tommy Jaggi
QB. New Orleans Saints. Drew Brees. 12. player. 15.
NFL: 30 greatest seasons from players 30 and older: 12. Drew Brees, 2011
2011 was one of the best seasons we have ever seen from the quarterback position. Though Drew Brees led the league in yards, touchdowns, and completion percentage, he remarkably didn’t receive All-Pro Honors and fell short of Aaron Rodgers in the MVP voting. Still, what Brees was able to do at age 32 in 2011 was quite spectacular.
Two years after winning the Super Bowl, Brees put up one of the best single-season performances the league had ever seen. Despite throwing the ball a whopping 657 times, Brees remarkably managed to complete 71.2 percent of his passes for 8.3 yards per attempt. Also, Brees’ 5,476 passing yards marked a new NFL record for a single season; however, that was later narrowly surpassed by Hall of Famer Peyton Manning two years later.
After throwing for 46 touchdowns and just 14 interceptions, Brees led his team to a 13-3 record and slaughtered the Lions in the divisional round of the playoffs. Unfortunately, as memorable as his 2011 season was, things ended in disappointment for Brees and company as they fell to the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round of the playoffs.
The good news is that Brees would have many prime years ahead of him – even at his old age. He officially hung up his cleats this past offseason at the age of 42. Like Steve Young, Brees had a relatively slow start to his NFL career after spending his first five seasons with the Chargers, but the back nine was as good as anything Saints fans could have hoped for.