Clay Makes Incredibly Bold Statement About Importance Of Brees To New Orleans

Drew Brees is officially retiring. As many have pointed out, that news came out on Sunday, the 15-year anniversary of him signing with the Saints. A poetic end to a legendary career in the city of New Orleans.

For anyone paying attention, this topic was bound to be a major talking point on OutKick the Coverage, the radio show for OutKick founder Clay Travis. And of course Clay didn't disappoint. In talking about Brees, he made an incredibly bold statement about his legacy in that city.

How bold? Well, Clay believes no other athlete has ever meant more to the city in which he or she played. Yeah, that bold. But that wasn't all ... not even close.

"I legitimately believe that no athlete has ever meant more to the city in which he played than Drew Brees has meant to New Orleans," Clay said. "In fact, I don't think it is a crazy possibility that if Drew Brees had not been the quarterback of the New Orleans Saints, I think in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, it's possible that the New Orleans Saints decided to relocate -- maybe to San Antonio -- and play elsewhere because that city was so devastated after Hurricane Katrina."

Crazy, right? Well, read more Clay's reasoning behind it. He talks about the stats and all of those bullet points, but he also brings up the circumstances surrounding that Super Bowl win against the Indianapolis Colts.

"He also won a Super Bowl for New Orleans, which for those of you who remember watching that celebration, the Saints who had never won anything, for them to win the Super Bowl -- and for Drew Brees to do it with them --  against, ironically enough, a New Orleans native in Peyton Manning is one of the all-time great celebrations to watch a city have," Clay said.

"I believe Drew Brees is more significant to New Orleans than any other athlete is to any other city in America -- in this era. Now, I think there are other athletes in past eras. For instance, Michael Jordan to Chicago -- I think he defined Chicago in a big way. But I think the Bulls would've stayed in Chicago no matter what, even if Jordan had never been a Bull.

"I'm really not sure that the New Orleans Saints still exist as a franchise down in the Crescent City if Drew Brees isn't there. With the 15 years he brought to bare for that city helping them rebuild from Hurricane Katrina."

In a later segment, Clay also brought up LeBron in Cleveland, Tom Brady in New England and a couple others as examples. But through an unfortunate situation, a bond was created between Brees and the city of New Orleans. It's a bond that may never be rivaled.

It's wild to think that a single person -- other than the owner -- could keep a sports franchise from relocating. Do you agree with Clay or no?

If you aren't already, you've got to check out OutKick the Coverage.

Follow Clint Lamb on Twitter @ClintRLamb.





















Written by
Clint Lamb is a College Football Writer for OutKick. Managing Editor for Roll Tide Wire. Sports radio host for The Bullpen on 730/103.9 The UMP. Co-host for The 'Bama Beat podcast through The Tuscaloosa News and TideSports.com.