Nov 25, 2021; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Former New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is honored at halftime of the game between the New Orleans Saints and the Buffalo Bills at the Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports

In the months after his exit from NBC, Drew Brees is showing more confidence in his abilities as a broadcaster than he ever showed on the air.

Brees was on the AP Pro Football Podcast with Rob Maaddi this week, and discussed broadcasting and alternate broadcasts, such as ESPN’s ManningCast.

The former Saints quarterback said he “walked away with a pretty good skill set” and called alternate broadcasts “an interesting way” of watching a game.

Here’s more from the AP’s story about his comments.

“I definitely feel like I walked away with a pretty good skill set if I choose to go back and do it,” Brees said on the AP Pro Football Podcast. “I think the world by which the fans consume the game is also changing. I think you see a lot of these alternative broadcasts that are taking place. … It’s really kind of an interesting way to watch the game and hear the game and learn about the game.”

Brees is intrigued by the possibility of doing something similar to Peyton and Eli Manning on the “ Manningcast.”

“From my perspective, I just watch a game totally different than probably most people,” he said. “It’s hard to just sit back and watch it as a fan. You’re so analytical with everything. You put yourself in the moment at all times. And I think that’s a really interesting perspective for fans to hear. I look forward to finding ways that that can be communicated in a much more in-depth way that’s kind of outside the norm or what is like the typical formula for broadcasting a game.”

Back in July, Brees told USA Today that he felt he “could be one of the very best” at broadcasting if he stuck with it. Based on last year with NBC, that seems to be a stretch. However, Brees was thrown right into the deep end, serving as the analyst on Notre Dame games and working in the studio on Football Night in America. Additionally, he called a pair of NFL games with Mike Tirico (NBC’s Thanksgiving game and the network’s Wild Card broadcast of Raiders-Bengals) and struggled in the role.

Nothing from his work last year indicated he would get to that elite level of broadcasting, but networks were clearly high on him, both before and after his NBC stint. Maybe he’ll seek another broadcasting gig in the coming months or years, get a lower profile role, and be able to grow into a high quality broadcaster.

Or maybe he won’t, and we’ll keep wondering what the hell happened.

[AP]

About Joe Lucia

I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.