[Elvis]

http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/20 ... n_dre.html

Marshall Faulk remembers when 'nobody wanted' Sean Payton, Drew Brees

Christopher Dabe

Marshall Faulk remembered when the New Orleans Saints hired his former college position coach to be the head coach. And he remembered when the Saints signed a quarterback coming off a serious shoulder injury to be their starter.

Both occurred nearly 10 years ago. Back then, Faulk said, no other team wanted coach Sean Payton or quarterback Drew Brees, which has made the recent speculation about their futures all the more notable.

"Those two guys, who nobody wanted 10 years ago, they come here, create something special, and now all of a sudden Sean Payton is sought after to where people, they're willing to buy out the last two years of his contract," the Hall of Fame running back said Thursday at a football camp held at Newman High School.

"And Drew is owed $20 million (in 2016) and there are some teams that would take him right now as a quarterback that's up in age," Faulk said of the 36-year-old with a birthday Jan. 15. "But 10 years ago nobody wanted to take a chance on them."

Reports from the NFL Network, for which Faulk works as an analyst, and ESPN have listed the Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, New York Giants and San Diego Chargers as teams that will make a push for Payton soon after the Saints close the regular season Sunday against the Falcons in Atlanta.

The Saints hired Payton in 2006 with no previous head coaching experience, and less than four years after then New York Giants coach Jim Fassel took play-calling duties from Payton, before the Dallas Cowboys hired him in 2003 to coach quarterbacks as an assistant head coach under Bill Parcells.

"The thing that surprises me is all the surrounding stories about where he's going to go and what he's going to do and how he and Drew have continued to say, 'Hey, we are going to be here,'" Faulk said. "But the outside world, they continue to dive in and say, 'Well, we don't think so.'"

Faulk said Payton and Brees "are men of their words, and I believe that if it's up to them two, then they're going to be here."

Brees on Wednesday laughed off the reports speculating on his future with the Saints. And Payton last week told Jacksonville media he saw himself coaching the Saints "long past this season."

"Obviously, we all know it's a business, and if the business side of it dictates that they go, meaning that it's out of their hands, then that's what it is -- out of their hands," Faulk said.

Faulk has had a longstanding relationship with Payton that dates to when Payton was his position coach while at San Diego State in the early 1990s.

"I think for Sean the one thing that he is always going to do that really helped me is he's all about growing the talent," Faulk said. "He's never going to let you sit and rest on, 'This is how good you are, this is how good you can be.' He's always going to push you."

Faulk said Payton "understood at a young age that I knew football and I was able to retain a lot of information. He overloaded me. At a time when asking running backs to take a test was unheard of in college, he gave me the quarterback test because he understood that I knew more. That was something that, off the field, grew me as a player mentally and physically, pushing me and asking me to do more."

Payton appeared to carry that approach of "overloading" players through his NFL coaching career, Faulk said.

"Marques Colston, he don't come here and develop here with the Saints, (and) Jimmy Graham wasn't a guy who was sought after," Faulk said. "He's going to develop players. (Travaris) Cadet. Just look at the guys that they bring in and you're like, 'Aw, I really don't know.' Chris Ivory. These are guys that come into the league and they stay, but they were unknown guys. They come here, they play with Sean, he groomed them, asks a lot of them, and whether they're here or other places, they stay (in the NFL). Lance Moore is still in the league. We didn't know if Lance could play in this league when he first came in."

While at Newman, Faulk spoke to campers who were coached by 22 college football players as part of the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team.

"Their names are not the names that are known in college football," he said. "Their names are known for their value to the community in which their respective schools are. That's just as important as what you do on the field -- the name that you make for yourself off the field."

[moklerman]

Well, if the Rams go after both of them I won't be upset.

[dieterbrock]

I love Marshall but he is taking serious poetic license here.
Brees was a hot commodity and Miami screwed the pooch over his shoulder.
As for Payton, he was a hot shot candidate despite getting screwed by Jim Fassel. He made Quincy Carter look like an NFL qb for god's sake...

[moklerman]

I love Marshall but he is taking serious poetic license here.
Brees was a hot commodity and Miami screwed the pooch over his shoulder.
As for Payton, he was a hot shot candidate despite getting screwed by Jim Fassel. He made Quincy Carter look like an NFL qb for god's sake...

Was Brees a hot commodity? He was coming off of a severe shoulder injury that had many questioning if he could even play again. Dolphins doctors thought it was too much of a risk. Saints rolled the dice and came up winners but weren't those the only two teams that were interested? And one of them thought he was too much of a health risk.

[dieterbrock]

I love Marshall but he is taking serious poetic license here.
Brees was a hot commodity and Miami screwed the pooch over his shoulder.
As for Payton, he was a hot shot candidate despite getting screwed by Jim Fassel. He made Quincy Carter look like an NFL qb for god's sake...

Was Brees a hot commodity? He was coming off of a severe shoulder injury that had many questioning if he could even play again. Dolphins doctors thought it was too much of a risk. Saints rolled the dice and came up winners but weren't those the only two teams that were interested? And one of them thought he was too much of a health risk.

New Orleans and Miami were in a bidding war, and then Miami cooled off and went with Culpepper.
He was a commodity and the shoulder injury is all about pontificating at this point
Heck, IIRC San Diego was criticized for not franchising him and trading him

[moklerman]

I love Marshall but he is taking serious poetic license here.
Brees was a hot commodity and Miami screwed the pooch over his shoulder.
As for Payton, he was a hot shot candidate despite getting screwed by Jim Fassel. He made Quincy Carter look like an NFL qb for god's sake...

Was Brees a hot commodity? He was coming off of a severe shoulder injury that had many questioning if he could even play again. Dolphins doctors thought it was too much of a risk. Saints rolled the dice and came up winners but weren't those the only two teams that were interested? And one of them thought he was too much of a health risk.

New Orleans and Miami were in a bidding war, and then Miami cooled off and went with Culpepper.
He was a commodity and the shoulder injury is all about pontificating at this point
Heck, IIRC San Diego was criticized for not franchising him and trading him

It's almost amazing how much talent they had and let go. It's not like they chose "wrong" with Rivers for example, but a slickster would have parlayed both those QB's into something more than they got. They could have kept Brees and traded Rivers for a nice return IMO. The unknown is often more valuable than the known and a top rated draft pick might have gotten them something good in return.

It sure seems to me that they gave up on Brees too soon. Not to mention Welker. Brees, LT, Gates and Welker all on offense? Wow.

[dieterbrock]

Was Brees a hot commodity? He was coming off of a severe shoulder injury that had many questioning if he could even play again. Dolphins doctors thought it was too much of a risk. Saints rolled the dice and came up winners but weren't those the only two teams that were interested? And one of them thought he was too much of a health risk.

New Orleans and Miami were in a bidding war, and then Miami cooled off and went with Culpepper.
He was a commodity and the shoulder injury is all about pontificating at this point
Heck, IIRC San Diego was criticized for not franchising him and trading him

It's almost amazing how much talent they had and let go. It's not like they chose "wrong" with Rivers for example, but a slickster would have parlayed both those QB's into something more than they got. They could have kept Brees and traded Rivers for a nice return IMO. The unknown is often more valuable than the known and a top rated draft pick might have gotten them something good in return.

It sure seems to me that they gave up on Brees too soon. Not to mention Welker. Brees, LT, Gates and Welker all on offense? Wow.

Brees was really a disappointment and then they fleeced the Giants when they got Rivers. Brees wouldnt sign a contract extension after they drafted Rvers, so San Diego franchised him. At the time it seemed crazy since Brees hadnt lived up to that. Then he had a great season. San Diego coulda, shoulda franchised him again but I do think they had one of those agreements that they wouldnt franchise him again and he wouldnt hold out. I think San Diego made out so well from the Giants that losing Brees for nothing didnt hurt all that much
Maybe ESPN will do a 30/30 on it.....

[moklerman]

New Orleans and Miami were in a bidding war, and then Miami cooled off and went with Culpepper.
He was a commodity and the shoulder injury is all about pontificating at this point
Heck, IIRC San Diego was criticized for not franchising him and trading him

It's almost amazing how much talent they had and let go. It's not like they chose "wrong" with Rivers for example, but a slickster would have parlayed both those QB's into something more than they got. They could have kept Brees and traded Rivers for a nice return IMO. The unknown is often more valuable than the known and a top rated draft pick might have gotten them something good in return.

It sure seems to me that they gave up on Brees too soon. Not to mention Welker. Brees, LT, Gates and Welker all on offense? Wow.

Brees was really a disappointment and then they fleeced the Giants when they got Rivers. Brees wouldnt sign a contract extension after they drafted Rvers, so San Diego franchised him. At the time it seemed crazy since Brees hadnt lived up to that. Then he had a great season. San Diego coulda, shoulda franchised him again but I do think they had one of those agreements that they wouldnt franchise him again and he wouldnt hold out. I think San Diego made out so well from the Giants that losing Brees for nothing didnt hurt all that much
Maybe ESPN will do a 30/30 on it.....

SD's GM was a disaster. As good as he was at identifying talent, he was equally as bad at just about everything else. Firing Schottenheimer after going 14-2 remains one of the most bizarre decisions I can recall. Yeah, he underachieved in the post season but let's get real. Not only that, if you're going to replace Schottenheimer, why in the F would you choose Norv Turner as an improvement?!? He's everything Schottenheimer is, but less.