SAN DIEGO -- If the Fat Lady's about to sing, Drew Brees isn't hanging for the aria.
He's gone to the lobby and picked up an orange drink.
With no personal knowledge of Drew putting a hold on his retirement party, that's how I see it, anyway.
I do know there was a video of Brees last week pushing a weighted sled during a workout.
Maybe the former quarterback of The NFL Team That Used To Be Here, who made himself record-breaking famous with the Saints, will retire at the age of 42.
But he's only football-insider-media-expected to retire. He hasn't said he's going to, even though he has that NBC analyst gig set when he does walk (it was there in 2020). The Saints haven't said he's retiring.
Don't put anything past this man.
QBs are having a tough time finding the sunset these days, and maybe Brees will ride off into it. Heaven knows he's earned the right. But, if he is, if age and body are telling him to exit, why is he leaving the door ajar? He played his "last" football game two months ago.
It can't be money, just as it can't be with Tom Brady. Drew's made $250 million playing football and leads all players in endorsement bank.
This is not a normal NFL quarterback. This is not a normal athlete. This is not a normal person. Most great athletes aren't, but Brees is driven by a nuclear blast furnace, perhaps because early on he was told he couldn't possibly be what he wanted to be.
I realized this from his days in San Diego. Drew may not be huge in stature, but there is a competitive bonfire burning inside this guy I only can compare to Dan Fouts, who Bill Walsh called: "The greatest competitor I've ever known."
Brees, I can say without reservation, is the most sincerely confident, cocksure athlete I've been around. I can't believe he's ever had a single doubt of his ability in his life, no matter the setback.
If, after he's thrown five picks, you ask him: "Drew, who's the greatest quarterback who ever lived?" He'll answer stone-faced. "I am."
He came to a bad San Diego team in 2001 and played behind Doug Flutie his rookie year, getting the start in 2002 and, while not a wow, was OK. In 2003, he absolutely stunk, and was benched in favor of Flutie, who by then was 39 and probably getting shorter. It begat Phillip Rivers.
But in 2003 I came to realize what Brees was made of. I didn't treat him with great kindness, and yet, when we talked, he didn't jump at me. All he basically said was that he knew he had greatness with him, that he was the best.
And he came pretty close to being right. Rivers was drafted to replace him, but missed camp. Drew responded with a Pro Bowl season. Fire.
What I see now isn't the same player, but the same competitor. He suffered 11 cracked ribs and a punctured lung and still came back in the playoffs.
Brees didn't look like a man who was going to retire then, and he doesn't now.
If he does pull the shade, good for him.
This is a player of remarkable confidence, capable of strangely expressing it so matter of factly it seems without conceit, a man of great pride in his product.