25 Players in 25 Years: Steve Wyche on Nos. 20-16

23:55Steve Wyche:So, Zach Martin, number 19. Let's move on to our next guy on the list. Number 18, Julius Peppers. Get him moving a little bit. Pump break, he's hit. Off the ball, of course, and Julius Peppers had it. So long, Peppers. Oh, man, oh, man. You know who hit him? It was Fields. Number 58 came in and just crunched Michael Vick. There isn't a man on this field that's going to catch Julius Peppers. Look at the athletic ability of him. He just one-hands the ball and goodbye. Give me my respect while I'm going to take it. How you want it? How you want it? How you want it? He has two distinct sides to his personality.

24:44There's Julius laid back, chilled, nonchalant. And then there's the football player they call Pep. Explosive. disruptive, relentless.

25:01Steve Wyche:We can get into so much with Julius Peppers, but let's start with the first play that we heard there. That was Mike Patrick and Paul McGuire, both great broadcasters with ESPN. Rest in peace, Mike Patrick recently passed away. And that interception return where Peppers, you know, picks it up one-handed and then runs at that size for the touchdown, to me exemplifies just how he was an athlete that is just rare in every possible way yeah i think i actually covered that game when i was covering the atlanta and the tackle that he beat todd weiner was like a really good player he was michael vick's blindside tackle and it's funny two years ago you know i do the the door knocks the hall of fame crew and two years ago when bruce smith was knocking on his door we're going through the whole process i kept saying to myself like man you know julius peppers is a first ballot hall of famer and then you don't realize he's got the fourth most sacks of all time right 159 and a half because what you just mentioned everyone thinks of julius peppers because he played basketball at north carolina as an athlete right you don't look at him like the same way you you know we talked about miles garrett or lawrence taylor or deacon jones like is that badass edge rusher who's just taking names and putting bodies in the ground right you look at as a super athlete who got his way done.

26:21But then you just look at the fact 11 interceptions, four of them return for touchdown. Now when you're 6 '8", okay, you know, part of that. But I mean, it's two all-decade teams. This guy played for 18 years.

26:35Steve Wyche:That's what did it, Steve. That's what helped push him on this list. When I saw that he was second-team Hall of Fame all decade in the 2000s for the Hall of Fame. And actually first team from Pro Football Reference. They do their own list. And I thought that was an interesting other voice to listen to in the 2000s. And then he's also on the Hall of Fame all 2010s and second team for the Pro Football Reference all 2010s. That was what did it. Because I'm not, I'm trying not to over reward longevity. I want to be about like greatness. But he did have that high level greatness and the longevity put it over the top for me.

27:16But he wasn't a compiler, right? No. A lot of people are like, oh, Frank Gore's got these great numbers, but he was a compiler because he played for so long. Pep was still giving you double-digit sacks in years 14, 15, playing for the Bears, playing for the Packers. He was still putting up big numbers. And, you know, unlike Miles Garrett, he played on some really good Panthers teams. He played in Super Bowls, right? He really affected things. But in covering that division, when I worked in Atlanta from 2008, 2005 to 2008, like the Panthers were the team. It was always the Panthers and the Falcons, and everyone's trying to out-athlete each other, right?

27:51You know, the Panthers got Thomas Davis because he was a hybrid safety linebacker who could spy Michael Vick. He's a guy who could run with Michael Vick. And then you see Julius Peppers, like there's no body on the offensive line. There's no running back or whatever that could handle him, whether it be power, whether it be finesse. And because Pep didn't say much, you heard him talking a little smack on that video clip, but Pep's a real quiet guy. you know he never you never were just like man he took over a game and you're just saying yourself he made a spectacular play here and there but he never took over a game so you're wondering like is he really that guy and then you go back and think about like oh yeah he really was what was

28:29Steve Wyche:i watching right and it it kind of accumulated slowly because he won defensive rookie of the year he was thought he was the number two overall pick in the draft and viewed as you know a generational type of athlete. I actually think him and Garrett have a lot of similarities. I agree. Coming out of the draft. And there was a sense in Carolina, could he be even more? But three first team, all pros, three second team, all pros. And like you mentioned, those are sprinkled over a number of years. Only player ever with a hundred sacks and 10 interceptions. And one thing that strikes me is he got to the end of these contracts.

29:03Steve Wyche:That says a lot. Seven years with the Panthers. And then he signs a record breaking at the time defensive contract for the Bears ends up four years with the Bears lasted a while there he did get cut by the Bears then he gets a three-year big contract from the Packers at 34 years old he plays through the end of that contract and played uh very well he you know I asked uh Ross Tucker about him who went up against him you know just on text and everything and he said he thinks he's the most athletic player he ever played against and actually it was Peppers or it was either Ross's first game or I think Pepper's first game that he says he put Ross on the ground and literally jumped over him.

29:44Steve Wyche:So that's the type of thing that he did. I want to talk about a two play sequence. And this was back in 2004, just sort of as an example of how great Peppers was and what kind of player he was, if younger fans maybe don't have an idea. It was a two play sequence against the Broncos. And if you have a chance, we are doing this show on YouTube as well. So everyone check that out. But there's a run at the one yard line where Jake Plummer is going to the edge. And he absolutely has the angle on Julius Peppers. This is an athletic player. And Peppers somehow runs him down. This is at the end of a 10 play drive.

30:22Steve Wyche:The very next play after Peppers, in theory, is winded, backs up in coverage. I challenge a cornerback to have that good coverage. and he goes over 100 yards and he does not make it to the very end. Oh, he doesn't get this. The piano falls on his back. I think it's 103 yards, but he only gets to the three yard line. But those two plays in a row, he said he was sucking wind before that play even started because he had just run down Plummer and then he ends up having this long interception return. And that to me is kind of an example of what kind of freak he was. And for people again, who don't realize this, Jake Plummer was a hell of an athlete.

31:00He's a dude who used to run all the time. He was on the move, and for Pep just to chase him down like that and then make this play, I mean, that's absolutely fantastic. Now, the linebacker who's trying to get the plumber should have turned around and picked off the guy so Pep could have gotten to the house, but still. Here's the other thing. 52 forced fumbles. So you think about that. He had 11 picks and 52 forced fumbles. That's an opportunity for 63 changed possessions. That is the ultimate difference maker, regardless of who he's playing for. That's why he's able to to play in Super Bowl and do some of the great things that he did.

31:34Steve Wyche:I think of players on this list. They got to stand out to me. And Peppers, he just felt like he was a player from the future. You could, you know, he was drafted now 20 years ago. And if he was more than that, right? 23 years ago. Right. If you dropped him in the 2025 class, he would still be the number one pick, number two pick. Yeah, first or second pick. You know what I mean? He was from the future. As great as he looks on these clips now, just comparing them to what was going on back then. One thing underrated about him, maybe his motor. He missed four games as a rookie. After that, only two more his entire career.

32:17Steve Wyche:And if you look at the percentage of snaps he was on the field. He didn't come off. He did not come off the field. So he was a guy who made it onto my list late. I had some tough decisions. He went in over Freeney. He went in over Vaughn Miller. If I did this list again, like he might be on it next time. I had a hard time leaving Vaughn Miller off, but he is over Vaughn Miller. He is over Jason Taylor and some more of the great pass rush. We're talking about a pass rush from the future. Like, can you imagine he played in Dom Capers 34, where they played that hard edge setting defensive. If he was able to play like a wide nine, like the stuff Sala does and the stuff that Vic Fangio does, how he could get one-on-one matchups, his numbers would be bigger than they are now.

33:01Steve Wyche:Absolutely. So Julius Peppers on the list. And yeah, if you're thinking about edge players, by the way, Michael Strahan was a really tough guy to leave off because a lot of the great part of his career was in the 90s. So the 25-year cutoff hurt Michael Strahan, although he was pretty awesome. Yes, he was. In the 2000s. He had a very strong case. So it's very tough to pick these guys. But I think Julius will do us proud. All right, we'll be back after this with the next two players.

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37:42Steve Wyche:Back on NFL Daily talking about the best 25 players of the last 25 years. Steve and you suggested we should do a show on the omissions. I don't want to make people mad, though. Maybe after like this list, any list is going to make people mad about who's not on. Well, yeah, they won't know until until we get to the end, although I'm spoiling it a little bit. We might have to do a follow up with some reaction, maybe a mailbag. If anyone thinks that I got anything really wrong. I don't think, unless people are crazy, there's going to be any arguments about the next guy on our list. Number 17, Adrian Peterson.

38:23This is perhaps one of the greatest single-handed runs I've seen. Adrian Peterson just refused to go down. Hand off on third down. He runs to a first down. He sprints to the far side across the 50. He breaks a tackle, and Adrian Peterson is loose. He has scored a 65-yard touchdown.

38:50Best running back of this generation would be Adrian Peterson. With the mindset I have, you know, and the guys I have up front, you know, I know anything is possible. That's why I continue to do the things, you know, working hard in practice. just the slightest of openings and Peterson goes all the way i like to refer to adrian as an animal i mean the guy is just relentless he doesn't stop

39:17Steve Wyche:adrian Peterson came into the nfl as one of the best college runners in history out of oklahoma in day one in the NFL, he was one of, if not the best running backs in the NFL for first team, all pros, a few more seconds. The last non quarterback to win the MVP back in 2012. I'll let you go with you. Like your first, your first memory instinct, any, anything covering this guy? Well, look, my first thing is the first time I dummy. I shook his hand. right so you always heard like oh when agent peterson shakes your hand he's gonna break it he broke it i was like what did i do man like what did i do so every time after eight we're fist bumping i mean that thing is real and you know you hear about guys who are real strong in the weight room i don't know what he did the weight room but he's got what i call pipe bending strength like he could just take a freaking engine block out with his bare hands he's so strong and then you couple that with the speed and the vision because the vikings made no bones about what they were going to do with him in the backfield.

40:23They're giving him the ball. He's going to run it. Try and stop me with you. Can't know. He had a really good offensive line in front of him, but there were still guys who were able to try to get to him, and either he shook them, knocked them over. It was amazing. I tell people one thing that blew my mind, it blows my mind about Agent Peterson was he played for as long as he did because after a year or two, people realized how strong he was. They would load up on him. I mean, I saw him take some shots. that would knock people out he just ran right through them got up and you know what it just deflated i forget it was a game in the metrodome against somebody a db hit him as hard as i've seen a player ever get hit and he just took it off like okay that's you know all day that's my name all day you're gonna be feeling it that db was like man you know that that dude just walked through my my right hand basically and and the fact that he just did all of that was exemplified in 2012, Rosie, when he comes off the torn ACL at the end.

41:24Christmas Eve of 2011 comes back the next year when Leslie Frey was coaching the Vikings and rushes for almost 2 ,100 yards. Right? They gave him the ball 348 times off of a torn ACL. And he put up 2 ,000 yards running the ball. Like he's that special. He had over 1 ,000 yards like at the end of his career when he was playing for Washington.

41:48Steve Wyche:Right. And And he's on this list because of those first seven years when he did not leave the field. And we remember him leading the NFL in rushing, coming off that torn ACL. That 2012 season that you mentioned, that was the year he won the MVP. That was the year he goes for 2 ,097 rushing yards, still the second most ever. 2 ,300 yards from scrimmage. And of all the guys on this list that have gone back and watched some of the highlights, I think he put the biggest smile on my face. It's just like watching this dude gallop in the open field. Some people are just born to do something. And this man was born to run a football.

42:38Steve Wyche:And you could see the joy that he played with. He obviously played with a toughness, but I just felt like running hard is a skill and running backs can only do it for so long. You only have maybe so many times you're going to get hit. If there was a metric for running hard, to me, he is my all time leader in running hard per carry because every single carry of his career, he brought that juice. And that's why despite all the injuries that slowed him down in the back half of his career, he still played till he was 36 because he still was helping a team out by just running that hard. Well, I mean, remember the season when he kept on fumbling the ball because he was trying to get the extra yard.

43:21That was the thing. He was always trying to get the extra yard. Guys are punching out. It comes back the next year and doesn't put the ball on the ground. I mean, it goes to show you how much it meant to him. Here's something people don't think about when they talk about Adrian Peterson. When you go back and he played those games at the old Metrodome, the turf on that field was like that long. It was a slow track. this is your definition of our listeners right about what three or four inches about two and a half okay three inches long like it was long like uncut grass for for three weeks the fast turf like like today's field turf is maybe a centimeter off the the the foundation with those rubber pellets in there if he had played on some of that shorter turf where he could actually dig in tougher and deliver blows and play a little fast i don't know if his career would have been as long i don't know but the physicality he was able to play with the first time I went to the Metrodome I was like why would you have this long of turf with a running back like Adrian Peterson I would replace this stuff and get on a fast track and it was just for years he played on that type of turf and still put up

44:25Steve Wyche:unbelievable numbers yeah his first really seven seasons in the NFL he had one minor injury about six years in that caused him to miss about four games but he's putting up 1700 yards on the ground, 1300, 1200, and then the big 2000. He as just like a pure runner, you're giving the ball, you know, he was not known for his like blocking ability. He had a lot of big receptions actually per catch, because if you just got them on a little swing or anything, like he would take it to the house. A lot of times I saw a lot of those on his, on his highlights, but he was not as complete a back maybe as a Marshall Falk or a LaDainian Tomlinson for instance even that first year where he didn't get all pro was actually Brian Westbrook in his best season all right the first team all pro had like 2300 yards but in just terms of running the ball lateral ability shifting gears like what stands out to you watching him the vision the power yeah I mean I'm telling you you saw some of the highlights because you know as big and strong as he was like his waist he probably had like a 28 inch waist right so guys who'd come in to take big shots at him there wasn't a ton in the midsection to hit he ran kind of straight up he wasn't necessarily always bone guys with the shoulders when he ran so he was he was dipping like he could he could shake a guy the great running backs could shake a guy in the phone booth proverbial phone but he was that guy but then it was just so much heat and strength behind it you're like okay do i hit him in the thigh which is the strongest muscle group of his body and he's going to concuss me or what am I doing here?

46:01So he was frustrating to play against. And when I think about it, I mean, think about the 2012 season too. Christian Ponder was his quarterback. Oh man. His leading receiver was Percy Harvin. Like the Brett Favre era was gone, right? You know, that brief stint.

46:16Steve Wyche:Wow. That's a good call that he had the 2097 yards with Ponder as his quarterback. I mean, you see why he got the ball as many times as he did. And they only won 10 games. They had to win their final four games that season to get into the playoffs. They're losing the wild card, but I mean, what that dude did, he's going to be the last running back to go into the Hall of Fame. He's eligible in 27. He'll be the last running back to go in until Derrick Henry, probably. Maybe Marshawn, maybe. But when you think about the way football has changed, he is the last big bell cow until you get to Derrick Henry.

46:53Steve Wyche:It's great. It's a great call. Now, I am hoping that the voters consider my guy frank or overtime i'm not saying that he might get in day one because he to me was a truly excellent player but you're right uh i i did not put those guys on this list i did think about derrick henry he would be the the running back right now who who would have a chance certainly gore you know cmc there's there's been some great backs but peterson's different and the fact on a bunch of bad teams he did make the nfc championship game with Brett Favre, as you mentioned. They made the playoffs a couple times in that 08, 09 window, but he did not have a chance to have a lot of playoff success, and yet everyone knew he was that dude.

47:36Steve Wyche:I'm going to throw to an old colleague of ours, a guy I used to enjoy working with on an outfit called, what was it called? NFL Plus back in the day. This is Ike Taylor being interviewed for the NFL 100 series. Does he make it? heck, y 'all ain't making it. The man can sit down for two years. He gonna make it. He gotta make the top 100. Nightmare. He Jason. Freddy Krueger. Like, when you talk about the Minnesota Vikings with Adrian Peterson playing, we have to stop this guy. That was just funny to me that he made the top 101 in a year that he didn't play. This is enough players just voted for him anyways.

48:23Steve Wyche:That's respect. Ike is the absolute best. Yes, he is. I enjoy watching him play so much that why not? Let's actually throw it back to his time in Washington. Not what people think of with Adrian Peterson, but him ripping off. And when I went through his greatest plays, so many of them are 40 to 70 yarders. This guy was a drive in one play. He was a big play machine.

48:55it's Peterson big hole first down and four still going Adrian Peterson inside the 20 the 10 touchdown 64 yards

49:08Steve Wyche:I just like that he was still getting it that was like year 12 at the end of his career and I'm telling you man the load he took and the shots he took if you were on the field and you watched some of the shots he took before he was coming through the whole line of scrimmage he took some licks and just, I know the other dude's worse off than me. It was an amazing combination of a slasher. Like he is the slasher and not afraid to take contact and get that extra two or three yards through contact like they teach you. But also when he was in the open field on so many of these big plays, his footwork, just the way he would set guys up and those feet just suddenly start moving really quick when he's about to make a cut, it just froze defenders and then he gets past them and you're not going to catch he's a throwback i mean he's a 70s running back he's a franco harris guy franco didn't have his speed but earl campbell type of guy i mean he he would have fit so well in that era all right our next guy would have fit in absolutely any era i have to admit i feel bad and this is true for a lot of these guys coming up we're getting to the real meat of this list.

50:19Steve Wyche:I feel bad for not having them higher. Number 16, Drew Brees. Brees is under center. The snap, the spin, the fake handoff, drops back seven, throws a soft pass in the end zone, backpedaling catch, touchdown! It's grabbed by Hill! That's it! That's the record! Drew Brees is thrown for more touchdown passes than any quarterback in professional football history. Drew Brees is an all-around quarterback. You know, anytime you think of Drew Brees, you think about the records he had broken. Drops back, looks to the far sideline, wide open, Traeclan Smith, and Traeclan Smith is going to go to the end zone.

50:59Drew Brees has done it. You have just witnessed history in New Orleans.

51:04Steve Wyche:Drew Brees is the NFL's all-time leading passer. Thomas in the backfield. Here's the throw to Shockey, and it's a touchdown. out. Jeremy Shockey in the slot to the right. The Saints are back in the end zone on a two-yard touchdown strike. He'd make it happen. Drew'd make it happen, baby. Yeah, Drew'd make it happen. A record setter in so many categories. The leader in passing yards so many times. Set the passing yards record. Set the touchdown mark at one point in his career. A guy who now is second all time in passing yards and touchdowns to Tom Brady, but a guy who was as consistent as anyone could possibly be, but also had some of the highest of highs.

51:59Steve Wyche:One of those touchdown calls you heard there was a go-ahead touchdown to Jeremy Shockey with under six minutes to go in the Super Bowl. Everyone remembers Tracy Porter, but it took Drew Brees driving down the field and making it happen to go take that lead. Well, I mean, his competitiveness, we hear this about all the great ones, was unmatched. And it's not just on the field or training. The stories you hear, talking to our old colleague, Chase Daniel, who backed up Drew Brees for years, like the preparation he had in meetings and the way he would see the field and see the game and then was in tune with Sean Payton as a play caller was like next level.

52:37Like everybody who came from playing behind Drew Brees says they learned how to prepare now. So when they would go to their next team, they could train younger guys on how to study for meetings. But here's a couple of cool things about Drew Brees. Other than Marcus Colston, Jeremy Shockey, Jimmy Graham, until Michael Thomas came at the end of his career, who were his receivers? It was a revolving door of receivers, right? But here's a great story that Jameis Winston told me why Drew Brees was so good. Because the one stat you didn't talk about that we finally started talking about because of Drew Brees, completion percentage.

53:16So Jameis said they were playing a game, they were down two scores with like four minutes left. So what's Jameis' thinking? We got to take some shots here. He's on the sideline, Brees is playing, and Brees is methodically seven yards here, nine yards here. So they end up scoring a touchdown, but there's only like a minute and a half left on the clock. So he's like, man, why weren't you taking shots? What are we doing with the plays we're calling? He's like, hey, hey, protect the ball. You play within the offense. You move the ball down the field. We see you got in the end zone. We got a defense that can take the ball away.

53:47We'll get another chance to get back in there. They get another chance. They didn't win the game. But where so many quarterbacks are thinking, okay, adrenaline's pumping. We got to go do this. Breeze is like, this is how we do things here. This is what works. This is why, Jameis, you're throwing 30 picks a season, and I'm throwing nine. and it's just, you know, I covered so many Saints games during the Breeze era and just seeing him, I'm 6 '2", right? He's about my height, maybe a little shorter, maybe. He's not as small as you think. People try to diminish his size but what Sean Payton did with him because of his size helped teams build their offensive lines a certain way and open the door for shorter quarterbacks, the Tua's of the world, the Bakers of the world and that's built them guard to guard.

54:31right you talked about Jari Evans one of the best guards of the era and some of these interior linemen so now you got a pocket and you got a stud like Teron Armstead and some of these other guys here to handle the one on one stuff but more and more teams these days because of Drew Brees and the way the success he had stepping up into the pocket build their teams guard center guard to create throwing lanes for their shorter quarterbacks

54:56Steve Wyche:so I love what you said about the completion percentage which is a stat that I thought at some points could get a little overrated. But I think in Breeze's case, and he finished his career five straight years over 70%. He was setting the record. There were three straight years where he had 72, 74, 74%, just numbers that you've never seen before. The reason why it mattered so much, not just because he was making the right football play and throwing to the open receiver, was that it was setting up, despite his reputation, one of the most efficient deep ball throwers in the history of the NFL. If you go back and you look through his greatest plays and some of the most important plays of his career, and I went and did that this week, you know how many of them are to Devery Henderson and Robert Meacham and Brandon Cooks?

55:49Steve Wyche:I would say plus 40. Like so many. And you want to know why that is? Because you're playing zone against Drew Brees. and he's pick, pick, pick, pick you apart. 8, 9, 11, 8, 9, 11. And then suddenly you get caught sleeping and there goes Brandon Cooks for 89. And you know, like how perfectly each one of those passes were. He did not have the arm of Favre or Rogers or anything like that, but his timing made up for it and turned him into, I think the most underrated deep ball thrower ever because it was such a huge part of his game. and even volume wise, they threw a lot of deep balls even late in his career and they hit him because it was one part of his excellence setting up another part.

56:34And look, part of the play, again, I must have covered, I could pay state taxes in Louisiana. I've covered so many Saints games in the Breezy era, but look, they had one of the best screen games, you know, with Reggie Bush and then Pierre Thomas, right? So they used the screen game as the run game. We know how much they love the tight ends in the red zone. I mean, even Benjamin Watson, I think, had a 13 touchdown catch season. Shockey was great with them. Jeremy Shockey, Jimmy Graham. I mean, so they utilized a lot of things to set up the deep throws. But the one thing about Breeze, too, you always see he had this kind of motion where when he would throw it, it was almost like the Greek god type.

57:10He was leaning back like, man, how does he see? And he just trusts his preparation so much and his practice reps so much because he's got this odd thing. If we go back and look at his highlights, you'll see some of those throws, but so much of it is built on the preparation. Let's not forget, this was a dude people thought's career was over when he left the Chargers and he had a debilitating, super damaged shoulder to where when he went on free agent visits with the Dolphins, when Nick Saban was coaching them and the Saints, the Dolphins are like, yeah, we don't think he's going to be able to last because of that shoulder.

57:44Goes to the Saints in 2006 after they returned from San Antonio because of Hurricane Katrina and just starts dialing it up.

57:50Steve Wyche:I am so glad you mentioned the San Diego years because his entry into the NFL was really bumpy. He did not play as a rookie. I think Doug Flutie was playing. Doug Flutie was playing, and he was an early second-round pick because of the size, probably. He was six feet. You're saying he's looking at you eye to eye. He's listed at six feet. I don't know. He's a little taller. Maybe in cleats. Maybe it was because he also, compared to some of the quarterbacks, relatively slight. I remember, you know, I've walked by him and stuff. He just, in a different setting, he looks like a normal guy. Most of these guys don't look like normal guys.

58:30Steve Wyche:So he comes in his second year after not playing as a rookie. And he's okay. It's up and down. But he's showing promise. The next year, he gets benched. In the middle of the year, they are 2-9. He is struggling. He has more interceptions than touchdowns. Doesn't totally get along with his head coach. There's like, there's kind of like conversation of like, does he have a good attitude? Like stuff like this. And now knowing his history, like he was a competitor and that team was terrible. And he was put in a tough spot. Benched. They draft Phillip Rivers in the next draft. Phillip Rivers is going to start over him.

59:10Steve Wyche:And Breeze's career is in a really tough place until Breeze, Breeze, until Rivers, holds out a training camp. Very Chargers-esque. Contract negotiations. They can't agree to a contract. Breeze comes out the next year, and he wins comeback player of the year. He is awesome in training camp. He is awesome in the season. He does not let Rivers get on the field, and he ends up starting another year in front of Rivers, also playing well, but as you mentioned, hurts his shoulder at the very end of it, And that sets up the free agency visit where he wanted to play with Miami. They didn't want him. And he ends up changing, you know, a city forever.

59:54Steve Wyche:And that's he could run for governor right now. He would win 100 percent of the votes. I don't know if any one player has had a bigger impact on their city than Drew Brees. You might be right. Had on New Orleans. You might be right. He is he is worshipped. He is held in that high of regard. and when we think about the primaries, Greg, you're in New Orleans a lot. You're a Tulane grad. That guy, what he did for that city, the way he embraced that city, especially coming post-Katrina, when he showed up there with Sean Payton as a tandem in 06? Right, so that's their first season and is easily his best season as a pro up until that point.

1:00:33Steve Wyche:He gets all pro first team in that season. People don't remember, there were not really high expectations. They go 10-6. They win a playoff game. They get to the NFC championship game that year and get turned back. And Breeze, you suddenly realize this marriage between him and Peyton, how he started winning from the neck up and Lance Moore and just that whole team. One of my favorites, Reggie Bush. Deuce McAllister. I mean, it's just so fun to watch those teams. So I mentioned that's his all-pro team. And he could be higher on this list. I didn't want it to be all quarterbacks at the top. It could be, you know, there are a number of quarterbacks.

1:01:14Steve Wyche:Hold up real quick. Yeah. That was his all pro season. Yes. His only all pro season. And, and that's, what's tough about breeze evaluating this way. He had some of the best seasons ever that didn't win MVP. And he did win a second team, all pro four different times. And it's to Manning twice, Manning, Brady, it's to my homes. And right. It's to some of the greatest players of all time. And his 2011 season, and I would argue at 2009, because I actually was writing a column for ABCsports.com at the time, I thought Drew Brees should have been the MVP that season, in the regular season, over Peyton Manning.

1:01:54Steve Wyche:So while it doesn't look as great that he only gets one first-team All-Pro, two of those seasons, man, he had a strong argument for it. Rodgers had a crazy 2011 season. Manning was great in 2009. I would have picked Brees. but Saints fans will tell you like he could easily have three MVP. So I'm not going to kill him that he was like the second best player in the NFL in those seasons. Here's a validation. He's up to go to Canton next year. Well, yes, there's no, he's going in. Well, yeah, he's one of those guys. You don't even have to make an argument. So don't, don't come after me. I'm not coming after you.

1:02:29I mean, I'm just saying, I'm talking about the list. I love the dude. I love, I'm just kind of like, isn't it crazy that he was this great, that he's one of the leading passers of all time. And he made the pro or the all protein once because again, he played in look at the era. He talked about me. Yes. Manning, Brady, Rogers, Mahomes, some of the great quarterbacks. And he only was able to make it one time.

1:02:49Steve Wyche:And yet he won, you know, it's crazy. He actually won two offensive players of the year. So that you would think is like a higher honor. But in those years where he, two of those years where he came in second were MVP, they kind of gave him the consolation prize because he had such an incredible year. and he ends up winning Offensive Player of the Year. He won Comeback Player of the Year, but it was not in the year that he's coming back from that horrible shoulder surgery. It was the hand. It's from getting benched. It was from being bad in San Diego. He actually won Comeback Player of the Year in San Diego.

1:03:21Steve Wyche:So I struggled. At first, I had Lamar Jackson over him. He was in our first episode between 21 and 25, Lamar Jackson, because his highs have been so, so high. The MVP, he's multiple MVPs. And then when I looked at it, though, I was like, man, Drew Brees' highs are pretty... You're not going to get too much of an argument for that. Okay, okay. I was just like, they are amazing, leading the league in passing so many times. One of the best to ever do it. Steve Weiss is one of the best to ever do it. I'm glad you came in for this. I'm so glad you asked me to do this. When you told me the project, you know how I was like, this is great.

1:03:54And you pulled it off so far. Well done.

1:03:57Steve Wyche:We've just getting going here. Our next episode, we will tackle players 15 through 12. That is going to be a lot of fun. We'll see you next time.

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