ProFootballDoc: The Untold Drew Brees Shoulder Story

With the retirement of Drew Brees, this is the perfect time to finally tell the untold story of the most important shoulder injury that he ever overcame. No, it wasn't the right shoulder dislocation that ended his career with the Chargers in 2005. It was an injury to his left shoulder in 2004, and without Brees' toughness, we might never have seen the Hall of Fame career. 

Any public revelation of injury requires permission, and I am thankful that Brees texted me back this weekend and allowed me to tell this previously untold story. It is a fitting tribute to his career. I have recently tried to give a different and personal perspective about the real Philip Rivers upon his retirement and another side of Marty Ball with the recent passing of Coach Marty Schottenheimer. Now here is the story of how we almost never got to see Brees' greatness.

The Chargers held the first pick in the 2001 NFL draft, and we needed a quarterback as the aging (and ageless) Doug Flutie was the starter. The Falcons traded up to select Michael Vick. I was in the San Diego war room as we used Atlanta's pick at No. 5 to draft LaDainian Tomlinson, and we still got the signal caller we needed, Drew Brees, with the first pick of the second round.

Brees sat behind Flutie in his rookie year and then started in his second year, throwing 17 TDs and 16 interceptions with a quarterback rating of 76.9. He struggled again in his third year, throwing more interceptions than touchdowns and was even benched for Flutie for parts of the season. 

For the 2004 draft, the Chargers once again held the first selection, and we were in the market for a new quarterback. We selected Eli Manning, and I witnessed the excitement in the war room as the Giants selected Philip Rivers at No. 4. We knew a Manning-Rivers trade was coming. 

Rivers held out that training camp and was not ready to start for us at the beginning of the season. After an opening victory, Brees had two lackluster games, completing under 50% of his passes and earning a quarterback rating in the low 50s. The Chargers were 1-2, and there were calls to play Rivers.

Early in the next game, a home contest against the Titans, Brees was sacked on third down, dumped on his left shoulder. He ran off the field without showing injury. I saw the play and went to check on him. He emphatically stated he was fine and was fired up about not converting the first down, so I left him alone.

Flutie then quickly found me and said, "Drew hurt his shoulder."

Though he had told me he was fine, I went back to check on Brees, who again insisted he was fine. He tried to wave me off to stay in the game, saying it was his left non-throwing shoulder, so it was not a big deal. I reached under his pads to feel an elevated end of the collarbone, indicating a clear AC joint sprain or separated shoulder.

Brees once again stated he was fine, but he was clearly in a lot of pain. He tried to wave me off, saying, "I am not coming out of this game." He knew that if Rivers got the chance to play that he may never get the reins back. After again insisting he was fine since it was his non-throwing shoulder, I had him try to mimic handing the ball off with his left arm, and he couldn't do it. I presented Drew with the option of a numbing injection, but he didn't want to leave the field to get it (this was well before the blue sideline medical pop up tents).

This time, I insisted and told Brees that he needed to have use of his left shoulder as we couldn't just run one direction all game with him not using his left arm to hand the ball off. Brees agreed as long as I promised him he wouldn't miss a snap. I had my assistant run into the locker room to get all supplies needed for an AC joint injection and meet me in the tunnel ASAP while I finished my informed consent and told the team what was going on.

Brees and I then ran to the tunnel, and I told the security guard to not let anyone enter. We didn't even remove his jersey. As my assistant held the shoulder pads up and sterilized the area, I injected his AC joint. A quick band-aid was applied and Brees was back on the sidelines and never missed a snap, even though the Titans went three and out. Drew threw a TD pass on that next drive and ended up completing 80% of his passes with three TDs, no INTs and a quarterback rating of 149.2.

Brees missed some practice time but started that next game with a pregame injection, and we continued that program for several weeks. After about six weeks, I wanted to stop doing the pregame numbing injections, but Brees said, "Let's not mess with success." He didn't want to think about it. There was also the looming possibility that he might take another hit on it, so that became our routine the whole year. That 2004 season, the Chargers finish 12-4, and we captured our first AFC West crown in my tenure as head team physician. Brees finished the season with a quarterback rating over 100, cementing him as our starter.

Though a top draft pick, Rivers sat for a second straight season in 2005. The Chargers finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs. Brees dislocated his right throwing shoulder that final game. That is the "famous" shoulder injury that led to his departure from San Diego, a failed physical in Miami, and the New Orleans revival after Hurricane Katrina. 

Without Brees' mental and physical toughness to stay in that game early in his career, despite shoulder injury, we might not have seen his greatness. Kudos to him on a great career and congrats on retirement.