“If not me then who?” was Drew Brees’ internal motivation for standing up as a leader and signing on as plaintiff in the landmark antitrust case, Brady vs. NFL, currently working its way through the federal courts. This simple maxim influences Drew’s decisions and actions.
Considered one of the best ever free agent signings in the NFL, things weren’t so clear when the deal was struck with the Saints in 2006 during a trifecta of devastation. Hurricane Katrina had ravaged the city of New Orleans, Brees was rehabilitating a ruinous throwing shoulder injury, and the Saints were coming off of an overwhelming 3-13 record. Since then he has led the Saints to two division championships, a conference championship and a Super Bowl win. Brees won the Super Bowl MVP, 3 offensive player of the year titles and four pro bowl bids with no visible trace of a shoulder injury. He has also raised and donated millions of dollars to New Orleans based charities through his foundation.
True leadership is hard work and sacrifices are par for the course. Brees joined nine others NFL players who agreed to become plaintiffs in the antitrust litigation against the league. A decision he didn’t make blindly or without first fully understanding the risks to his career. “I talked to guys that had been through this before, not necessarily who had their name on the case but guys that were involved with the union during those [earlier player] strikes, guys involved with the association after decertification between ’89 and ’93 and people that had experience on the NFL side during those times to a get perspectives on what everybody was thinking and the details and dynamics of the whole situation. There’s a lot of similarities except for the fact that [their experience] was with a strike and this is a lockout and [that] is a fundamental difference.” Regardless, “at the end of the day I felt like that was a sacrifice I was willing to make.”
This attitude fits right in with his leadership philosophy. “You can’t ask someone to do something that you wouldn’t be willing to do yourself. You have to show guys that you care. If they know that you care about them and that you believe in them then I feel like guys will do just about anything for you. I think you got to be able to walk the walk and in the end you have to keep in mind what’s best for the team.”
As a member of the NFL Players Association executive committee Drew takes his responsibilities seriously. He uses his strong voice as a representative of the tight knit community known among all the players as One Team. Like many good leaders Brees looks to surround himself with other strong leaders. Just over two years ago, nearly seven months after long-time NFLPA Executive Director Gene Upshaw passed away from pancreatic cancer, DeMaurice Smith was elected to lead the players association.
Players have noticed the impact of a strong leadership team and appreciate the effort. “Anytime you step up in a leadership role you also step out and become a little bit of a target so De Smith and Drew Brees have been out leading the charge and have taken some shots along the way but among our ranks you appreciate that,” commented Saints offensive tackle Jon Stinchcomb. “When you have your leaders taking some bullets for you then you know that they have your best interests at heart.” Strong leadership by the league’s most notable players creates an environment where all players willingly and proudly stand together. Players from seasoned veterans to undrafted rookies (Von Miller was undrafted at the time he joined the litigation) feel confidence standing next to the likes of Drew Brees and Tom Brady.
This tight knit unity sets this labor dispute apart from previous ones. “The history of the league has been ’74, ’82, and ’87 were all strikes, players refusing to work, this is a lockout. We want to work; they are refusing to allow us to work because they’ve locked the doors. So I think a big part of this has been educating the public and the fans as to exactly what the situation is. It is not players asking for more money, this is in fact the exact opposite.”
This significant fact hasn’t gone unnoticed by fans. In a recent poll by Suffolk University nearly 60% of those with an opinion blamed the owners for lack of progress towards a resolution. The owners are feeling that pressure too. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell recently commented “[The lockout] has clearly had an impact on our fans already. You can see that in the various metrics that we have, whether they’re ratings or traffic on NFL.com.”
This pressure makes sense to Drew who explained that the players have won “four consecutive court cases against the NFL going back to last year. [Starting with] American needle in the supreme court in which they lost nine to nothing, then there was the TV network case in front of Judge Doty, then there was a case in New York where the NFL was trying to take away our future workman’s comp benefits and offset them against current salaries and that was shot down, and the lockout case we won in April in federal court in Minnesota which is now being appealed. I just feel like how many times do you try to do something that is deemed unlawful, four consecutive times, before your realize that this is not the road that is right to go down.”
Both sides are scheduled to be in court today before the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals where the court will hear arguments on why the lockout should or should not stay in place. The antitrust litigation in Brady vs. NFL is still pending before Judge Nelson.
So what’s next? While no deadlines have been set the teams are already missing mini-camps and training camps usually begin in late July. A day will come soon when the first preseason games will get cancelled. Drew believes “If we miss football due to this lockout it will be the dumbest thing ever…it will be detrimental to this game.”
Drew’s advice to Goodell is as pragmatic and practical as the rest of his no nonsense leadership. “All he’s got to do is lift the lockout; I don’t think it’s that difficult right? We can continue settlement discussions. We are more than ready to continue settlement discussions and to reach a settlement. We are more than ready. Because in the end there is no winner and loser in this thing, we need to walk away from this and the owners need to win, the players need to win and the fans need to win. Everybody needs to benefit in a positive way.”
