Brees' message: Ignore doubters

Drew Brees speaks at the 2014 Arkansas Preps Banquet June 7, 2014 at the State House Convention Center in Little Rock.
Drew Brees speaks at the 2014 Arkansas Preps Banquet June 7, 2014 at the State House Convention Center in Little Rock.

Ty Storey arrived at the Arkansas Democrat Gazette's All-Arkansas Preps awards banquet Saturday night in Little Rock with a message from his future offensive coordinator.

Storey, who will be a senior at Charleston High School this fall, has committed to play quarterback for the University of Arkansas. His offensive coordinator there will be Jim Chaney, who 14 years ago spent the last of his four seasons as Drew Brees' offensive coordinator at Purdue.

Storey said when he told Chaney he might get a chance to chat with Brees at Saturday night's banquet at the Statehouse Convention Center, Chaney told Storey that he still owes Brees a sandwich from a bet Chaney lost regarding Brees' 40-yard-dash time while both were at Purdue.

"[Chaney] said he couldn't run under a 4.8," Storey said. "I guess, he did."

Brees, who will begin his ninth season as the New Orleans Saints' quarterback this season, remembers it a bit differently.

"My 40-time was not that impressive," he said, cracking a wide smile. "So, I'm sure I lost that bet."

Storey didn't get a chance to meet Brees face-to-face Saturday, but he and about 850 others listened to the quarterback who led the Saints to a victory in Super Bowl XLIV pass along advice and tell stories about his journey from Austin, Texas, to being an eight-time Pro Bowl quarterback.

During a 45-minute question-and-answer session with Keith Jackson, the former NFL tight end and current Razorback radio analyst, Brees spoke about his being lightly recruited coming out of high school, what drew him to New Orleans as a free agent in 2005 and what he thinks the biggest challenges are facing high school athletes today.

"It's been a long road, but a fun journey," Brees said.

That journey began in Austin, where he was an undersized quarterback who thought he'd played baseball in college. He was so lightly regarded that he wasn't recruited by the University of Texas, despite living only 6 miles from Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

He and his younger brother would walk to games, buy scalped tickets and sit in the bleachers. Most of the time they rooted against the Longhorns, an admission that grew a cheer from those in attendance.

"I always liked to see you guys beat Texas," Brees said, referring to the Razorbacks. "I didn't like Texas. Both of my parents went to [Texas] A&M."

Other lighthearted moments included a story about an East Coast trip to visit college campuses, why he wears No. 9 and how he motivated himself to overcome a height disadvantage.

• During a visit with then-Texas Coach Mack Brown while Brees was at Purdue, Brees said Brown told him that "if I was coach at Texas then, I never would have let you out of here." Brees went on to tell a story about visiting North Carolina as a junior in high school and handing a highlight tape to the Tar Heels' head coach, who just happened to be Brown. Brees never heard back from North Carolina.

"Obviously, he did not remember that," Brees quipped.

Brees said he switched from No. 15 at Purdue to No. 9 when he was drafted in 2001 by the San Diego Chargers to honor his favorite athlete growing up,Hall of Fame baseball player Ted Williams.

"He threw right-handed, batted left-handed. I threw right-handed, batted left-handed. Ted Williams hit .344, hit 521 home runs," Brees said. "Who did it better than Ted Williams?"

The quarterback also talked about being just 6 feet tall, which is considered short by NFL quarterback standards, and overcoming those types of stereotypes.

"I don't know what it's like to be 6-5. I imagine it'd be pretty good," Brees said. "There is satisfaction in proving people wrong.

"Forget those people. It's really about proving people who believed in you right."

Brees posed for photos and shook hands with athletes who were named players of the year in 17 different sports, and after his speech he posed for photos with the overall athletes and coach of the year.

Johnecia Howard, the girls basketball coach at eStem was named coach of the year. Payton Stumbaugh, a track and field athlete from Springdale Har-Ber, was named female athlete of the year and K.J. Hill, a wide receiver at North Little Rock, was the male athlete of the year.

Hill, who has 18 scholarship offers and is undecided on where he'll go to college, said he drew a bit of motivation from Brees.

"He's not the tallest, he's not the biggest, but he's going to make plays," Hill said. "He's one of the best."

Sports on 06/08/2014

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