Three streams of water. 53 representatives of the exercise. For Drew Brees, each number has a purpose.

Drew Brees was in a meeting room of the Saints of New Orleans the other day, reviewing the training film with his teammates when – that's it, he did it again.

For years, Brees has been licking his fingers when the ball is broken. He can justify this as a way to improve his grip on the ball, but the truth is that it's one of his things. But this time, Brees was eclipsed on the wide receiver before a lap. He would not handle the ball, but just when quarterback Taysom Hill called for breakage, Brees was licking his fingers.

"What was the purpose of this?", Recalls the quarterback of the Saints, thinking he had thought later. "I'm not doing the snap, I'm not about to throw a ball, I'm just standing there, but that's when the room was going to start, I click, so I licked my fingers .

This is what happens, even if Brett Favre compulsively loosed his jugular after the plays and after 18 seasons of muscle memory and the strict respect of a routine of unique mental preparation, sometimes the threads cross in the same way. Brees' spirit. Once out of season, he was at a table helping his children do their homework, the juice started to flow and, for some reason, his hand went up, his tongue came out, and yes.

Brees thinks it's weird too.

"Why should I do it? I do not know," he says, "I'm just doing it."

[That time Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield had the craziest college QB duel ever]

To underscore the obvious, he deserved some respite and credibility: Brees, who earlier this season had broken the record for most career passes, will start Monday's game against Washington with 201 yards. to cross Favre and Peyton Manning will become the most accomplished quarterback in the history of the NFL. In a career that has lasted for a generation, while revealing remarkable performance and remarkable consistency, he averaged 283 passing yards in 253 games.

His 71,740 passing yards – including the 288 he won at the Super Bowl nearly eight years ago – put Brees at the top of the game – with a distance of more than 40 miles . It's not bad for a smuggler who barely scratches 6 feet and whose right arm is, if measured against his peers for a natural glow, one of the most remarkable in the league.

But he is precise, intelligent and meticulous and, on the sidelines of history, it is not his secret, it is his acceptance. He overcomes his physical weaknesses with brutal mental strength: he schedules his days at the hour and sometimes at the minute, taking nothing for granted, preparing himself and visualizing himself as he's always the rookie at the pile of Purdue that ended up becoming a First Ballot Hall of Famer. The Brees routine works because he believes that it works, including the way he carefully presses one foot on the sideline at the beginning of each practice, holds a bottle of water with both hands and throws three jets, and performs 53 reps – no more, no less. – Basic exercises because this is the number of the next Super Bowl.

"Could you, tomorrow, brush your teeth and say, "Today, I wash my teeth for three minutes and 30 seconds, and I will do it every day and try to keep pace every day, brushing my teeth. teeth, "said Zach Strief, a former Saints offensive lineman who retired after last season, his 12th alongside Brees. "Because normal people say it does not matter. And for Drew, everything counts. "

"I have the impression of constantly counting," says Brees. "It must reach a certain number. If I have that number in mind, then I say, "I will not stop until I get to that number." This issue on a daily basis could have a different meaning. (Julio Cortez / Associated Press)

Even at his high school Outside of Austin, Brees found solace in the numbers. There was something irrefutable in mathematics, and if anyone said that it was too small to play college football, there were numbers that could dispel that suggestion.

He broke records in high school for passing yards and touchdowns, and by the time he reached Purdue – his only other scholarship offer was for Kentucky – he had identified himself as a numbers guy. Formulas could be established or even exploited, and something did not seem right when an equation was right.

"I've just started to see these numbers," he said much later, "and by visualizing these numbers and reaching them, setting goals to reach them, it was simply a way to set a goal and criteria for achieve.

And in his mind, especially after reaching the NFL, achieving these goals helped him justify that he deserved a certain thing: a beginner job or a playoff appearance. He wears the # 9 jersey and Brees has long preferred that some things – training reps, for example, or his day's throws – can be divided equally by nine. He likes the Super Bowls to be given numbers, not years, because that gives him another number to aim, multiply, cut into derivatives. A career in the NFL was not a coincidence, he thought; it is the sum of infinitesimal decisions and actions, from the quality of his sleep to his consumption of food through his time management.

"I have the impression of counting constantly," he said, then describing various activities and how he manipulates goals to integrate them. "It must reach a certain number. If I have that number in mind, then I say, "I do not stop until I reach that number." This number on a daily basis might have a different meaning. "

There was 24 hours a day without discussion, so Brees started assigning tasks on certain days and times. On Tuesday morning, he agrees "quiet time": two hours to answer emails, perform personal tasks, read a few pages of the twenty books that he hopes to have. Wednesdays are devoted to film studies: in particular, the first and second tests and the current game plan. Thursday is devoted to the third test and Fridays are dedicated to the red zones, the short shots on goal and the goal line. Saturdays, which are usually close to a day off for NFL players, also have their own responsibilities.

"I know where I'm going to be at a specific time," Brees said. "I know what I'm going to do. I know what needs to be done to be confident and able to play at the highest level. "

No deviation, no adjustment, no need to ask – because you know why? Numbers, of course. Eleven Pro Bowls, that's why. Seven seasons leading the NFL to pass, that's why. Whether habits have led to success or success has led to more habits, teammates can not say the same. It's better at this stage to go there.

"In general, these kinds of things are unhealthy," said Strief, who then went on to explain a theory that Brees is purely ritualistic and non-compulsive because he expects to good results of his actions rather than bad – the fact is that these are the things that teammates Drew Brees think. "This routine for him gives him almost a sense of comfort that's all. it's all part of this perpetual quest for perfection for him.

"He is still working to be considered an excellent quarterback. And it's a mental impulse that, I think, most normal people would never understand, or that I can not. "

Brees hopes to be able to play quarterback until he is 45 years old. (David Goldman / Associated Press)

Brees reported that a few seasons ago to the practice of the Saints and announced that he would no longer issue a pass on Wednesday.

His teammates expected Brees to "lose his mind," Strief would say later, but it was a calculation and the quarterback had played well. The branches of the NFL quarterbacks, especially those recreated like the Brees before signing with the Saints in 2006, look like competition tires: there's only a lot going on in their lives. At that time, Brees was around 30 years old and wanted to save energy on Sundays. And so, yes, the routine has changed and neither the installation of the Saints nor the emotional state of Brees has collapsed.

Brees, with his analytical mind, is less interested nowadays in controlling the chances or doubting than his own body. His legs may be slower, his arm may feel weaker, but his brain is constantly looking for other benefits. There are more hours spent viewing parts than before, more time spent memorizing scenarios and preparing opportunities. Two other numbers motivate him: another Super Bowl championship and 45. This is the age at which, if his mind can continue to run faster than his body can deteriorate, he thinks he can reach the quarterback position of the NFL.

"I continue to tweak," he said, which involves assessing the routine that he protects and, at times, subtracting or adding items that may have it. help. Many of these things are supposed to stay hidden, and the truth is that many of his teammates have no idea what Brees does from minute to minute, hour by hour.

A few years ago, the Saints met on a Saturday for a preliminary visit before a home game. These are usually casual affairs, with as many blunders as football, and after training, players withdrew into the locker room to watch college football, then socialize and leave. Strief realized that he had forgotten something in the weight room, so he came in and saw Brees alone, studying the plays the next day. Then he lined up behind his invisible offensive line, broke the ball and dropped back, browsing his readings. He was looking to the left, checking the imaginary receivers, and when he looked to the right, he moved his body and feet for optimal balance. For half an hour on a Saturday, when most of the other players were well-prepared and advanced enough, Brees continued its momentum: new play, possible defense reaction, reactions and adjustments to the speed of the game.

Strief got up and looked at his quarterback, and the strength coach approached and told him that Brees was doing it every Saturday. And it was strange: it was no longer necessary for the quarterback, with all his achievements, to do all that. But the man himself, despite all his agitation, believed him.

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