The New Orleans Saints quarterback and reigning Offensive Player of the Year on his gadget addictions and secret love of romantic comedies
The New Orleans Saints quarterback and reigning Offensive Player of the Year on his gadget addictions and secret love of romantic comedies
Interviewed by Scott Stein
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Off-season acquisition
My child was just born this January, so my off-season was all about having a baby. We got him a little drum. I’m always taking the drumsticks and playing a little tune for him, and he’s always grabbing the sticks out of my hands and chewing on them.
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Rock ’n’ roll
When the quarterbacks work out together, we listen to ’80s music. The bands sing about all kinds of crazy stuff. A lot were one-hit wonders — but their one hit was awesome! My song: Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive.”
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Whole-wheat toast with peanut butter, organic raw white Hawaiian honey, and a sliced banana on top.
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Social media
I’m a BlackBerry guy. I use it to do a lot of texting and to send out Twitter messages. It’s such a great way to stay connected to fans and give updates on what’s going on with the team.
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Motto
“Your actions speak so loudly, I can’t hear what you’re saying.” Don’t tell me about it; show me.
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Refreshments
Most of the time I drink Penta water. I’m not saying Penta cures cancer, but science shows it acts like an anti-inflammatory and as a catalyst to help you digest vitamins faster. If I want a bit of flavor, I’ll drink Izze, this carbonated fruit drink that’s as healthy as you can get. During the off-season my one vice is root beer. My favorite is Virgil’s microbrewed root beer.
Vintage ride
I love the idea of owning an old car, but I know nothing about taking care of them. I really wanted an old Bronco or Blazer, so my second year in the league I had the bright idea to get a 1970 K5 Blazer. It was red with a white top that I could take off to cruise convertible style, and it had big old 38-inch mud tires. It was awesome — a real beach cruiser. I ended up selling it a couple of years later, but I got my money’s worth.
Home improvement
The Kaleidescape. It’s a system of hard drives that runs throughout your house that you can download movies and music to. You can pull up anything from it to watch on any TV. It’s pretty expensive, but it’s awesome. Each drive holds a terabyte of information — a thousand gigs — and I have 14.
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Overseas trip
I’ve been on four USO trips to seven different countries and had a chance to meet so many troops. Both of my grandfathers were in World War II — one in the army and one in the marines — so I feel strongly about supporting the military, especially in this day and age when there’s so much going on overseas. These men and women are really sacrificing everything. I want to make sure they know how much we appreciate them.
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Book
Golf’s Sacred Journey: Seven Days at the Links of Utopia, by David L. Cook. It’s a book about golf, but it’s really a book about life.
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Movies
There are so many. You’ve got Gladiator. You’ve got 300. You’ve got Braveheart. Then you go the comedy route: Caddyshack’s up there, and Wedding Crashers. I have to say that The Hangover was hilarious. If you go the serious drama route, Legends of the Fall was great. And Seven Pounds was good too. Like any married man, I get dragged to a lot of romantic comedies, but I don’t mind them. Maybe that’s why it’s not embarrassing.
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Clubs
My secret weapons are Callaway’s 52-degree wedge and the appropriately named rescue club. They’re my old trusties. I really just get a confidence boost with those clubs.
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Escape
Audubon Park in New Orleans. It’s huge, with a two-mile jogging and biking trail. It also has the New Orleans zoo and an 18-hole golf course that’s rated one of the country’s top 10 executive courses. You have these big, beautiful oak trees that are hundreds of years old hanging down and draping over the course. It’s one of my absolute favorite places.
Away stadium
Arrowhead in Kansas City. I played there once a year as a Charger. There are great fans, it’s loud, and it has a lot of history. I like those kinds of places.
I collect military coins. Each unit in each branch of the armed forces has its own. They give you one as a sign of appreciation. I got one from General Petraeus and one from four-star admiral Mike Mullen. I actually made my own when I went to Guantánamo Bay to reciprocate with the troops there. It is shaped like a football, with a picture of an American flag, a marine sniper, and three words: attitude, courage, discipline. You flip it over and it has a football helmet with the Saints logo, No. 9, Drew Brees. It’s cool.
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Eats
It’s hard, because I know all the chefs in New Orleans, and if I give you one the rest will get mad at me. But the food you can get here you can’t get anywhere else. At Delmonico, it’s the tender pork with dirty rice. Charbroiled oysters at Drago’s, the shrimp and tasso at Commander’s Palace, and the turtle soup at K-Paul’s, plus their steak with debris sauce — it’ll probably clog your arteries within five seconds, but it’s so fantastic.
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Workout gear
On the road I use Fitness Anywhere’s TRX, a total resistance suspension trainer. It’s basically made of straps and buckles. You can take it anywhere — strap it to a pole, behind a door — and use it to work every part of your body: balance, speed, agility, core strength, shoulder and leg strength, and power. I train with it every day.
Good-luck charm
On my right wrist I wear a rubber bracelet that says FINISH STRONG.

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By Scott Stein Mon, Oct 5, 2009