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Former Purdue Star Drew Brees Presents Major Challenge for Colts Defense

By Luke Schultheis

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The Indianapolis Colts defense will face another tough task on Sunday, when the team faces the New Orleans Saints and their star quarterback Drew Brees at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Of course, the state of Indiana is no stranger to Brees, who starred at Purdue University from 1997-2000 where he eventually became Purdue and the Big Ten’s career leader in passing attempts (1,678), passing completions (1,026), and passing yards (11,792), passing touchdowns (90), and total offense (12,692).

Former Purdue star Drew Brees. (Photo: Mark J. Terrill, Associated Press)

Not to mention, he led the Boilermakers to an improbable 2001 Rose Bowl appearance during his highly decorated collegiate career.

However, his stardom continued onto the NFL, although not necessarily initially.

Originally a 2nd round pick of the San Diego Chargers in 2001, Brees played 5 seasons for the Bolts before his career eventually took off with the New Orleans Saints starting in 2006, having signed as a free agent.

Since then, Brees has went on to become one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks, leading one of the league’s most consistently high powered offenses during his 10 seasons with the Saints.

Aug 23, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) throws a pass against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Not to bring up a sore subject, but his career pinnacle to date came in 2009, when he led the New Orleans Saints to an upset 31-17 world championship victory against Peyton Manning‘s Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV.

Named the Most Valuable Player of that game, Brees was 32 for 39 for 288 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions in what was a very strong championship performance.

Not only is Brees the NFL’s all-time career leader in accuracy, completing 66.3% of his passes, but he also ranks 4th career all-time in passing yards (57,649), 5th all-time in career passing touchdowns (403), and 7th career all-time in passer rating (95.4) respectively.

The 36 year old and future Hall of Fame quarterback has 7 touchdowns and 3 interceptions on the season and should present another tough challenge for this Colts defense:

"“Drew Brees is arguably going to be a 1st ballot Hall of Famer,” said head coach Chuck Pagano earlier this week. “He does a great job of managing it (the offense). Spreading the ball around.”"

A sentiment that was later shared by his defensive coordinator Greg Manusky:

"“Just going up against Breesy, he gets rid of the ball,” said Manusky on Thursday. “He knows where he’s going with the ball. Great student of the game. He’s like a coach on the field. He knows exactly where he wants to go and where he wants to go with it.”“But we’ve got to try to harass him,” added Manusky. “Get pressure on the edge, up in his face, across the board and try to disrupt some of the things that he wants done.”"

The coaches weren’t alone in their high praise of the former Purdue star, as the Colts defensive players are well aware of Brees’ special ability, specifically mentioning his high level of intelligence on the football field:

"“Very smart,” said starting safety Dwight Lowery. “He knows where he’s throwing the football. He spreads the football amongst his teammates and things of that nature. Just so everyone’s ‘live’ on the play.”"

"“Just his I.Q. of the game, there isn’t much he hasn’t seen,” said outside linebacker Erik Walden. “So we’ve got to do a great job of disguising. You know try to hold looks to make him see something else that he thought he saw.”"

However, his success is not limited to purely Brees’ football smarts, as the former Boilermaker is a genuine field general on the football field and takes command of both the huddle and pocket:

"“His pocket presence,” replied cornerback Darius Butler when asked what’s so special about Brees. “He knows where every guy is on the field. Check downs. Deep routes. He can place the ball anywhere, but he’s probably one of the most accurate quarterbacks in league history.”"

"“So it’s going to be a tough task,” added Butler. “Everybody’s just got to be on their P’s and Q’s, and we’ve got to get to him upfront and do our job on the backend.”"

The Colts know what they’re going to be going up against on Sunday in the Saints ‘oh so special’ #9. He’s going to present a significant challenge for their defense just like he’s been for defenses throughout his Hall of Fame career.

Aug 23, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) signs autographs for fans after the game against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Saints won 23-17. Mandatory Credit: Pat Lovell-USA TODAY Sports

Next: Colts vs Saints: What to Watch For

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