Even professional athletes have bad days

Even Drew Brees has experienced the lowest of lows.

The former quarterback for Purdue and current leader of the San Diego Chargers had the worst experience of his life in 2003.

Brees had entered the NFL season with high expectations, but found himself on the wrong end of a five-game losing streak after the first five contests; however, that was just the beginning for Brees.

Later that season, while the Chargers were losing to the Chicago Bears, Brees failed to convert a third-and-ten late in the third quarter. And as he went to the sidelines, the head coach approached him and pulled him from the game.

"As soon as I hit the sideline, I saw coach coming at me," Brees said, "and I knew it was coming. But I didn’t say anything to him but ‘I understand.’"

That’s the part that really disappointed Brees; he didn’t compete about staying in the game.

And through similar experiences, Brees had a season to remember in 2004 and is now one of the top-five highest paid quarterbacks in the nation.

But for him it is all about competing.

"After I got pulled in that Bears game, I thought about things," Brees said. "I really scared myself because I didn’t compete at that moment to stay in the game."

Brees is back in West Lafayette this week to sponsor several PEFCU events and helped headline the inaugural National Football Foundation Honors Dinner on Tuesday.

The foundation was established to help support area high school football players with scholarships, as well as promote youth football.

As well as being the guest speaker, Brees was awarded the Mental Toughness Award for fighting through the "lowest of lows" and becoming a top NFL quarterback.

"Sometimes it’s not about the 10 percent that you did bad," Brees said. "It’s about the other 90 that you can say ‘Hey, that is what I am all about.’"

And even as Brees tries to continue his success in the NFL he will always say, "Adversity creates opportunity."

By Leroy Bridges

Summer Editor