NFL Legend Drew Brees Talks Hall of Fame, Saints' Tyler Shough, Flag Football, More in B/R Interview

Earning football immortality with a Pro Football Hall of Fame selection is a humbling experience.

Even for a quarterback who threw for the second-most yards and touchdowns in NFL history.

"When you're a kid and you're playing the sport, you do it because you love it," Drew Brees told Bleacher Report. "I don't know if it's ever on your radar that you're potentially going to be a Hall of Famer in your sport and be considered one of the best of all-time. It's humbling. I have such a respect and reverence for the game. 

"I have such an appreciation for those who came before me, and we're always trying to leave the game better than we found it for those coming after us. From that perspective, mission accomplished, but what you begin to quickly realize is the Hall of Fame group is a very elite club. And to get the chance to have the guys I looked up to growing up welcoming me into their club, it's a pretty amazing feeling."

Brees will be inducted as part of the 2026 class alongside Larry Fitzgerald, Roger Craig, Luke Kuechly and Adam Vinatieri and learned the news when Hall of Famer Dan Fouts arrived at his front door.

Fouts is a San Diego Chargers legend, and Brees said during an appearance on the New Heights podcast that his fellow quarterback was one of the first people he talked to after the organization drafted him.

Fear not, though, New Orleans Saints fans. That doesn't mean Brees is going into the Hall of Fame as a Charger.

"It's Saints, obviously," Brees said on New Heights. "I mean, there's no question."

While he started with the Chargers, the Purdue product became a franchise icon and one of the defining players of his generation during his time in New Orleans. His resume includes a Lombardi Trophy, a Super Bowl MVP, two Offensive Player of the Year awards, 13 Pro Bowl selections and 12 seasons with more than 4,000 passing yards.

He also led the league in passing yards seven times and passing touchdowns four times, and only Tom Brady has higher career-totals in the two categories.

But the on-field accomplishments are far from the only things that stand out when looking back on his Hall of Fame career.

"There were so many people who had a hand in this," Brees said. "Reflecting back on those memories and those relationships has stood out. I still have so many relationships within the game with players, coaches and mentors, and they made it possible."

And that journey all started with flag football.

"I didn't play tackle football until I was in the ninth grade," Brees said. "Prior to that, it was flag football. I really credit flag football for helping to develop a ton of the skills and the traits to play not only tackle football but any sport. I really feel like, especially after coaching all of my kids, flag football is becoming the gateway sport for so many kids to all the other sports they're going to end up playing. 

"It's an unbelievable team game that requires communication and coordination with your teammates. And the skill sets that go along with it with the spatial awareness, the athleticism, the hand-eye coordination. It's really fun to watch the types of athletes who are being developed through the sport."

Flag football will never have a bigger stage than the 2028 Los Angeles Games when it will make its Olympic debut.

NFL players will have the opportunity to compete for a gold medal for their country in the culmination of the efforts to increase the sport's popularity globally. And part of those efforts included the NFL naming Brees a Global Flag Football Ambassador.

So does he wish flag football was in the Olympics during his NFL career?

"Absolutely," Brees said. "I wanted to be an Olympian so bad when I was a kid. That might have been my ticket."

Brees' role in expanding the popularity of the game, which he says has "taken off globally" since the Olympic announcement, isn't just limited to his role as an ambassador. He co-founded the youth flag football league Football 'N' America (FNA) and partnered with Unrivaled Sports to further bolster those efforts.

He also attended the 2026 Youth Flag Football World Championships for Unrivaled Sports at Walt Disney World Resort and got the chance to see teams from seven different countries in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, China, England and the Bahamas.

"It's been great," Brees said. "There are a lot of smiling faces out there. You've got 1,000 teams, about 10,000 kids all out there competing away and having a blast. You can tell just from the interactions, they look forward to this every year. There's really high-level competition and kids having a lot of fun. This is one of the premier events, if not the premier event, around the world when it comes to flag football for youth."

When he isn't spreading his love of flag football, Brees is still keeping an eye on his former team and liked what he saw from Tyler Shough during the quarterback's rookie year.

The Saints gave the starting job at the beginning of the 2025 season to Spencer Rattler but went 1-7 in his eight starts before switching to Shough. There was also slightly more urgency than what is typical for many rookies since the Louisville product was 26 years old after a lengthy college career, and the second-round pick responded.

New Orleans went 5-4 in Shough's nine starts as he completed 67.6 percent of his passes for 2,384 yards, 10 touchdowns and six interceptions to go along with three rushing touchdowns.

"The biggest thing I noticed, and this comes from talking with him as well, is there is a level of maturity for a young guy," Brees said. "Having seven years in college with the injuries helped him develop toughness and a sense of gratitude. … What I see is a big, tall athlete who can make all the throws. 

"When he scrambles, he can step up into the pocket, which is pretty unique for young guys. He steps up in the middle of the pockets, it's a trait that big guys like Josh Allen and Justin Herbert have because they're not afraid of the interior of the pocket and they can see. That opens up a lot of opportunities for him. He's also got a pretty calm demeanor about him, the moment isn't too big for him."

Shough was a bright spot during an overall disappointing season for the 6-11 Saints, who finished in last place in the NFC South and missed the playoffs for a fifth consecutive year.

In fact, they haven't been to the playoffs since Brees was still under center, although the improvement with Shough also coincided with first-year head coach Kellen Moore and new defensive coordinator Brandon Staley getting more experience with the team.

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That should bode well for 2026, especially since every team in the NFC South finished with a losing record last season.

"I'd say the division is pretty wide open," Brees said. "I think the Saints have seemed to find their formula. They had a new defensive coordinator, head coach and offensive play-caller, so it took a little while. But they were playing their best football at the end of the year."

It could all be setting up for the team's first playoff run since the greatest player in its history was putting together his Hall of Fame career.