🏈 Drew Brees: ‘Now My Real Life Work Begins!’

Drew Brees' fabled football career is officially over. Now, his anticipated second life can truly begin. [View in browser]( [FOX SPORTS INSIDER WITH MARTIN ROGERS]( [STORY IMAGE AD]( In today’s FOX Sports Insider: The best, most heartwarming, worthiest takeaway from Drew Brees’ career wasn’t in counting stats or picking a favorite moment from a list too long to count, but instead came from the way Brees, at 42, revealed he will no longer play football ... we take a look at the best picks, worst draws and fun facts for each region in this year’s NCAA Tournament ... and we get an inside-look at the welcome-to-Indy team swag starter set teams are getting upon their arrival to the NCAA Tournament. Sometimes, the best thing to do is to talk about the present, even in situations where every instinct lends itself to a reflection of the past. Drew Brees had a spectacularly outstanding NFL career, but we knew all about that already. Just like we knew, realistically, the Saints quarterback's retirement was imminent even before it became fact Sunday. We knew about the longevity and the sustained excellence, the unthinkable numbers and the unparalleled records, and the title of Super Bowl champion that perhaps should have been bestowed more than once. But the best, most heartwarming, worthiest takeaway of all wasn’t in counting stats or picking a favorite moment from a list too long to count, but instead came from the way Brees, at 42, revealed he will no longer play football. The method he used to walk away from the game was – even for the most grizzled of football diehards – really darn cute, but so much more than that and, in its own way, represented his greatest triumph. "After 15 years with the Saints and 20 years in the NFL, our dad is finally going to retire … so he can spend more time with us," [Brees’ four young children said collectively, before bursting into cheers on a video posted to his Instagram account](. [STORY IMAGE 1] For a player who won, not just consistently, but relentlessly, and turned the reputation of the New Orleans franchise about-face, it was a victory without compare. Because this is how everyone should get to go: fulfilled, content and positioned to not just enjoy what follows but to throw themselves into it with delight. It carried all the satisfaction of an athlete who has enjoyed virtually all parts of an incredible career but who knows even better, more thrilling things lay in wait. "Each day, I poured my heart and soul into being your quarterback," Brees wrote in an accompanying message. "Til the very end, I exhausted myself to give everything I had to the Saints organization, my team and the great city of New Orleans. "This is not goodbye, rather a new beginning. Now my real life's work begins!" [STORY IMAGE 2] With such a sense of peace, does it matter that Brees’ final attempt to get back to the Super Bowl – his Saints famously defeated Peyton Manning’s Indianapolis Colts in 2010 – fell short this past year? Or that a golden opportunity was denied by a dreadful officiating error against the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship two seasons prior? Of course it does, because it mattered to him. Brees played the game to win it – all the time, every time, every year, all the way to the end. An absolute competitor, so inherently driven to avoid defeat that Purdue coaches canceled games of Ultimate Frisbee the squad did for fitness because Brees endangered his body by taking them too seriously. Then, when he got to the point where he had given his all, when the tank was empty – even for the man for whom winning was like a drug – and life away from football seemed more appealing, he walked away. It’s what we all want, isn’t it, from our working lives? To leave on our terms and for the very, very best of reasons. During that glowing tenure in the Big Easy, there was so much collecting of achievement that it’s hard to know where to start. What type of historian are you – statistical or sentimentalist? Brees’ accolades ticked both boxes. No one has thrown more passing yards, completions or touchdown passes. Maybe no one else could have been the figurehead for lifting the city during the dream campaign that followed the disaster of Hurricane Katrina. It will seem weird next year when someone else has the reigns, even though there was a small taste of it with the injury-enforced absences Brees suffered the last couple of years. There will be a time to talk about whether his replacement will be Taysom Hill or Jameis Winston, or perhaps a lay-it-all-out-there move for one of the big names circulating through the QB rumor mill. [STORY IMAGE 3]( But not yet. Like how the past is just part of this story, the future can wait, too. Brees is adored in his adopted New Orleans because, as a franchise statement read Sunday, he "came to us at our lowest point" and "led us to our highest." His free-agent signing in 2005 is rightly seen as one of the most impactful in the league’s modern annals. Naturally, the plaudits came in quickly Sunday, from far and wide. And from as close to home as it gets. "For all of us that have had the chance to coach him, it has been our privilege, we are better for it," Saints coach Sean Payton said. Teammates, rivals and sports luminaries all joined in. The Atlanta Falcons, divisional rivals, deferentially said they "wouldn’t miss" him. Football will. Over the coming years, other exceptional quarterbacks will follow him out of the league, even Tom Brady, eventually. [STORY IMAGE 4] It was Brady who provided one of the more meaningful tributes. Remember the interaction the pair had after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers knocked the Saints out of the playoffs? When Brady threw a touchdown pass to one of Brees’ kids and the two QBs reminisced on shared memories? "Congrats, my friend on an incredible career," [Brady wrote](. "Thank you for the inspiration and dedication on and off the field. Look forward to seeing what’s next." There are not many other people who know what it’s like to play that long, far beyond the time when financial stability is comfortably taken care of, and when thoughts of a life after football are more real and present. They are both pillars of the league and will remain so, as one of them carries on for the same reason that the other just revealed his time was up. Because it felt right. [STORY IMAGE 5]( Here’s what others have said ... Archie Manning, former New Orleans Saints Quarterback: "Drew's been a great player and great for the game. As I like to say, he checks all the boxes as a Hall of Fame quarterback and the way his career has gone, and he's a good citizen. Luckily for our city and our part of the country, he came to New Orleans." Tyrann Mathieu, Kansas City Chiefs: “Being from New Orleans, Drew Brees meant everything to us in that city..... at many times our only hope, you know to smile & feel good, to live in a winning reality. That man gave us all life. None of us are perfect but he was close. Salute!” Jonathan Vilma, former New Orleans Saints Linebacker: “Drew Brees was the real deal. He was awesome... When you talk about the process... diving into the process and falling in love with the process. A shining example of falling in love with the process." [IN OTHER WORDS] - What will happen to the energy of the NCAA Tournament when each event is compressed into one state over three weeks? How will limited attendance, limited travel and players' sequestering in hotels so they can be tested rigorously each day for COVID-19 shape the outcome of one of America's biggest and most lucrative sporting events? [ESPN senior writer Kevin Van Valkenburg]( explains why this year’s tournament poses challenges unlike anything the NCAA has faced. - The Loyola Ramblers are back in the NCAA Tournament, and that means Sister Jean Dolres Schmidt, their most prominent fan, is back as well. Or she should be. [Yahoo Sports columnist Dan Wetzel]( says it’s time to free Sister Jean. - Can anyone beat Gonzaga? Is Loyola-Chicago primed for another deep tournament run? And is Rutgers ... good at basketball now? [The Ringer’s Rodger Sherman]( provides the best picks, worst draws and fun facts for each region in this year’s NCAA Tournament. [THE INTERNET IS UNDEFEATED] [THE INTERNET IS UNDEFEATED]( Have you ever attended a wedding and the bride and groom prepare a welcome gift that you receive upon your arrival? It’s the same story when teams arrive at the NCAA Tournament … sort of. Check out this tweet from CBS Sports college basketball writer Matt Norlander, who shared a photo of the welcome-to-Indy team swag starter set teams are getting upon their arrival to the NCAA Tournament. The swag set includes everything from branded towels (which look amazing), to hats, shirts, socks and a massive amount of body wash and Lysol disinfecting wipes. [VIEWER'S GUIDE] Monday Night Raw (USA, 8 p.m. ET) Don’t miss two title matches inside the All Mighty Era – this Monday on Raw. New York Knicks at Brooklyn Nets (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET) Julius Randle and the New York Knights take on James Harden and the Brooklyn Nets. Los Angeles Lakers at Golden State Warriors (ESPN, 10:30 p.m. ET) LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers go up against Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. [BET OF THE DAY] [BET OF THE DAY] Odds provided by [FOX Bet]( NCAA Tournament Championship Winner: Gonzaga: +200 Michigan: +600 Baylor: +600 Illinois: +700 The 2021 NCAA Tournament is here, the brackets are set, and it’s time to pick your winners. Gonzaga, Michigan, Baylor and Illinois received the four No. 1 seeds in this year’s tournament, and those four are listed as the favorites to cut down the nets in Indianapolis this year. Gonzaga enters the tournament with the best odds at +200, and rightfully so. The Zags enter the tournament with a perfect 24-0 record and will look to be the first team to complete an undefeated record and win the NCAA Tournament since the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers. Following Gonzaga, Michigan and Baylor are both listed at +600, while Illinois has the fourth best odds, listed at +700. If you’re looking down the list for a team with better odds, take a glance at Alabama at 20-to-1 odds. The Tide have won nine of their last 10 games, including an SEC Tournament title. They are red hot at the perfect time of year. [WHAT THEY SAID] “You are either getting better or getting worse, but you are never staying the same.” — Drew Brees [FOLLOW FOX SPORTS] [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( Download FOX Sports App: [Fire TV]( [Roku]( [Google Play]( [App Store]( [Fire TV]( [Roku]( [App Store]( [Google Play]( Also available on these devices: [fireTV | AppleTV | ROKU | Google Chromecast | XBOX ONE | SAMSUNG Smart TV] [fireTV | AppleTV | ROKU | Google Chromecast | XBOX ONE | SAMSUNG Smart TV] Trademark & Copyright Notice: ™ and © 2021 Fox Media LLC and FOX Sports Interactive Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Please do not reply to this message. If you do not wish to receive emails like this in the future, please [unsubscribe](. FOX Sports respects your privacy. 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