“Every professional athlete, at some point along the line, has been told that they weren’t going to make it. And that definitely drives you as you go through it all.” —Drew Brees
Brees has been through it all—and then some—on his way to making history Sunday night, when he passed for a touchdown in his 48th consecutive game, breaking Johnny Unitas’s record of 47 games, which has stood since 1960. Brees was able to set the milestone against the team he spent his first five NFL seasons with, the San Diego Chargers.
The Chargers were reluctant to re-sign Brees to a multi-year contract after he suffered a dislocated shoulder, torn labrum and partially torn rotator cuff in his throwing arm in the final game of the 2005 season. This led to his signing with the Saints.
Now, seven years later, a helpless Chargers defense could only watch as Brees rewrote the record books with a 40-yard TD strike in the first quarter. He followed up by passing for three more TDs in the Saints’ 31-24 triumph over San Diego.
“I don’t necessarily try to be successful and prove people wrong, but there is gratification when it does happen,” Brees said.
If that’s the case, then breaking Unitas’s record against the team that gave up on him seven years ago must have felt quite delightful.
Today, STACK is releasing the full, uncut version of the off-season workout Brees has used to maintain his status as an elite NFL quarterback over the last several years. Watch the video above to get a better appreciation of all the work Brees has put into breaking one of the NFL’s most impressive records.