Last offseason Drew Brees boasted that he hoped to play until he was 45 years old.
The New Orleans Saints quarterback -- now 36 -- admitted he might have been getting ahead of himself on that one.
"45 is a long way away," Brees said Wednesday on ESPN Radio, via the New Orleans Advocate. "I'm 36 right now, and I know I got maybe a little overzealous last year when I threw out the number 45."
Brees said he was feeling good last year when he tossed out that ambitious 45 number and understands that most signal-callers don't see much action past their 40th birthday.
As he ages, the cast surrounding Brees gets younger. The starter reiterated he's been impressed with rookie quarterback Garrett Grayson, who could be an eventual replacement.
"Listen, I know our guys, they wouldn't invest in a guy in the third round if they didn't feel like this guy could be a great player and somebody they could develop and would contribute at some point or not," Brees said, via the Times-Picayune.
But Brees isn't ready to step aside for any player and believes that the infusion of young receivers has injected new life into the offensive operation.
"That's good. That creates a sense of urgency. And I like that. Because it kind of takes me back to basics, too," Brees said. "All of a sudden I have to communicate and verbalize a route or a concept or a thought process in regards to something, so it just reiterates it to me, hey, what were the origins of this route and how have we developed it over time and how has it evolved? How have we gotten to this point?"
While Brees might have become more of a teacher recently, he's still playing at a Pro Bowl level. Until that trend stops, he's going to play.
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