Payton and Brees

Book excerpt: "Perfect for football fans of all stripes, this dual-focus portrait celebrates the winning power of strong bonds between coach and player." —Publishers Weekly A rare, behind the scenes? look at the New Orleans Saints over more than 14 seasons In 2006, Sean Payton arrived in New Orleans as a relatively unknown first time NFL head coach. His task was daunting: resurrect a Saints team that had just finished 3–13 and had won only one playoff game in the previous four decades. Meanwhile, the city was undergoing its own staggering rebuild following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina five months earlier. Payton knew that to turn around the Saints' fortunes, he needed to turn around their dreadful quarterback legacy. The Saints targeted a San Diego Chargers castoff they hoped would become the new face of their franchise: Drew Brees. Every team in the NFL had passed on Brees at least once because of his surgically repaired right shoulder or his lack of prototypical size. But for the Saints, Brees was worth the risk. Together, these two underdogs rolled up their sleeves and got to work, helping rebuild the city as they transformed the franchise from laughingstock to Super Bowl Champions. What they have done since, including building the most productive offense the NFL has ever seen and setting multiple passing and scoring records, has only deepened their legacy in New Orleans and throughout the league. Based on more than 14 years of firsthand reporting and dozens of interviews with players, coaches, and executives,?Payton and Brees is the definitive account of how Sean Payton and Drew Brees transformed a team, a city, and the game of football.