After the New York Post reported on Sunday that Drew Brees will be leaving NBC after only one season with the network, Brees took matters into his own fingers.
“Despite speculation from media about my future this fall,” he tweeted, “I’m currently undecided. I may work for NBC, I may play football again, I may focus on business and philanthropy, I may train for the pickleball tour, senior golf tour, coach my kids or all of the above. I’ll let you know.”
We wrote about it last night. On Monday’s PFT Live, Simms and I looked at the threshold question of whether Brees was joking about playing again.
If he was joking, I missed the punchline. It’s current floating over my head like that Sylvester Stallone gif.
In context, it doesn’t seem like a joke. First, he says, “I’m currently undecided.” I assume that’s not a joke. Then he says, “I may work for NBC.” Again, not a joke. Next, “I may play football again,” which is followed by, “I may focus on business and philanthropy.” If the last one isn’t a joke, and it presumably isn’t, why would the joke be “I may play football again”?
If he has said, “I may play baseball, I may play basketball, I may play football again, I may play hockey,” then it would have been clear. Tucking football among three things that seem like very real possibilities makes it harder to regard the fourth — football — as a joke.
Making it harder to crack this specific nut is the fact that Brees also mentions training for the pickleball tour or senior PGA golf tour. Given his overall athleticism and superhuman competitive drive, why would either be a joke? He could pull it off if he truly wanted to do it.
Is it likely Brees plays football again? No. Is it impossible? Look around at the depth charts. He’s more talented right now than more than a few players who have been penciled in as starters for 2022.
If he’s serious about doing it, the sooner he gets started the better. For now, the point is this — if it was a joke, it wasn’t as obvious as it could have been.