Has Drew Brees been the most underrated QB over the past decade?

Yes, I totally agree with you. For almost all his life, Drew Brees had to prove wrong those who underestimated him, and thought he was too short. On Wednesday, February 5, 1997, an 18-year-old Brees, standing only 5'6" and weighing 160 pounds, signed his Letter of Intent to play college football at Purdue University, after leading Westlake High School to a 16-0 record, and the state Championship as a high school senior during the 1996 season, in which Brees was named the Texas High School 5A Most Valuable Offensive Player.

As it turns out, Brees had a very successful college football career as a quarterback at Purdue. Brees was named the Academic All-American Player of the Year, and a 2-time Heisman Trophy finalist.

Although Brees was a very successful quarterback, he dropped to the 2nd round because of his short height. However, it did not stop Brees from becoming one of most elite quarterbacks in NFL history.

During his NFL career, Brees led the San Diego Chargers to one division title, and the New Orleans Saints to 3 division titles, two NFC Championship Game appearances, and the Super Bowl XLIV Championship. Brees was named the Super Bowl XLIV MVP. In addition, Brees formerly held the record for most passing yards in a season, and currently holds the record for most consecutive games with at least one passing touchdown. Brees has been selected to 8 Pro Bowls, is a 2-time Offensive Player of the Year, and is the only quarterback with three consecutive 5000-yard passing seasons (and 5 overall). Finally, Brees is the fastest player in NFL history to reach 50,000 career passing yards, doing so in his 183rd game played.

Yes. He should have been MVP 3 times already. He won quarterback of the year 3 times, and 2 times Peyton Manning won MVP instead. How the **** does that happen?

Yes, he definitely has. He's not married to a popular woman, he doesn't get in trouble and he stays out of headlines. Those are the reasons why the media has nothing to latch onto and talk about. I have him right behind Brady as the best current era QB because of the rings.

Yes, I think he got snubbed for MVP in 2009. He led the league in completion %, TD and QB rating despite sitting for the last game because the Saints had nothing to play for, and they gave it to Manning.

Nobody has had more than 5000-yard seasons and Brees has done five times. Barring a career ending injury, Brees will be the all-time passing yards leader next year.

While he is often the afterthought, most when talking about the elites, Brady and Rodgers. They do throw Brees in with them. He is often talked about in the MVP conversation but just like Brady, rarely is the top QB that year. So I can see how some underrate him, but that is mostly in the fans world.

As a Saints fan, I've known about Brees for a while. Yes, he has more 5,000 yard seasons than every other QB combined, and yes his reputation has suffered in recent seasons because he's shared a locker-room with a defence that played like a bunch of numpties. It is a truism about the NFL that the QB gets far too much praise when his team wins and far too much blame when it loses. This is unlikely to change any time soon.

But there's a very interesting thing about Brees' raw numbers. Only once in the last ten full seasons has he completed fewer than 400 passes, or passed for less than 4,400 yards. That season was 2009, when the Saints won Superbowl XLIV. This would seem to point to a fact that ought to be obvious, but is unknown to too many people. It's a team game. A QB who can carry the entire team is great, but if you support him with a running game and a decent defence, the team can achieve so much more.

This is not a criticism of Brees, of course. He's done what we was asked to do, and what he had to do. But so far, his raw numbers are his worst in a decade, other than 2009. He's on pace for 405 completions and 4,405 yards. And the Saints have a winning record and sit on top of their division. Why? There's a running game and the semblance of a defence. Does this make the Saints a Superbowl candidate? No. Or not yet, anyway. But there's a sense of optimism for the first time in years.

And hopefully, the rest of the team will enable Brees to receive the recognition he deserves.

I consider him the greatest free agent signing ever and totally agree with your assessment. Brees also took over a Saints team with virtually no help on offense besides late round pick Marquis Colston, he's also made stars out of as many no name receivers as Brady, often even the same guys (Watson, Thomas, Patten). I don't think Brees is better than Brady but it's really close, he's certainly better than Manning though.

He may be underrated by the media and by many fans, but people that really know the NFL know how good he is.

Yes. His entire career he's been overshadowed by Brady, Peyton, and Rodgers, but his raw stats are more impressive than all of them. He's the only QB in NFL history to throw for 5000yds more than one season. He's done it 4 times I believe. Since winning his super bowl, he's sort of been a media afterthought.