It was the first time the 39-year-old Brees had ever walked off of a football field knowing that he had thrown for more yards than any quarterback in the history of the NFL. And the Saints quarterback couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by thoughts of all the work and people who helped him get to such an esteemed point.“I broke down and cried a bunch of times this week Larry Warford Color Rush Jersey , just thinking about so many things,” Brees said after his latest NFL-record-setting performance in a 43-19 victory over the Washington Redskins on Monday night. “I think about all the people who have influenced my life in such a powerful way, and there were so many of those people that were here tonight, that witnessed this, so many people that I spoke to this week that are a part of this, and so many other still that I have yet to have a chance to reach out to.“Two of the people who had biggest influence on my football career certainly and on who I am, growing up, are my mom and my grandfather and they’re in heaven. They’re no longer here, but I know that they would be proud,” Brees added.The 6-foot Brees was lightly recruited out of high school in Austin, Texas, considered undersized for a quarterback at the major college and pro levels. He led Purdue to the Rose Bowl and was a Heisman Trophy finalist, but no NFL team picked him in the first round of the 2001 draft. Brees’ first team, the Chargers, discarded him after a shoulder injury in 2005 https://www.thesaintsfanshop.com/Ted-Ginn-Jr-Jersey , setting the stage for his arrival in New Orleans and his emergence as one of the most prolific quarterbacks ever.His latest outing would have been memorable even if no records were in play. He completed 26 of 29 passes for 363 yards and three TDs. His second touchdown was a 62-yarder to rookie Tre’Quan Smith that put Brees ahead of Peyton Manning’s previous all-time mark of 71,940 yards.Moments after that touchdown, the NFL halted the game for about three minutes so the ball could be handed over to Pro Football Hall of Fame officials. Brees was able to embrace his family and coach Sean Payton on the sideline.“It’s a beautiful thing, a beautiful experience for all of us,” said Saint left tackle Terron Armstead, the first teammate to hug Brees after the record-setting completion to Smith. “The energy in the stadium at that time, I thought he was going to cry, really. He’s a tough dude, he probably didn’t want to show that side. But it was an amazing experience.”Some other things to know about the Saints’ victory over Washington:RISING ROOKIESmith is a third-round draft choice out of Central Florida who, in his fifth NFL game, became immortalized for his role in Brees’ record-breaking night.“Now I get to go down in history with somebody famous in (future) Hall of Famer Drew Brees,” Smith said. “I’m glad it happened to me.”And Brees is glad to see Smith emerging into the player he showed signs of becoming in training camp. Smith finished with three catches for 111 yards and two touchdowns.“This kid could really help us, could really be a big part of our offense,” Brees said.NON-STAR TREATMENTCornerback Josh Norman is supposed to be the centerpiece for a Redskins defense that had allowed the fewest passing yards in the NFL entering the game against the Saints, but he struggled just as much as the rest of the secondary as Drew Brees threw for 250 yards in the first half.Coach Jay Gruden even benched Norman for the first series of the second half Garrett Grayson Jersey , but the move backfired when his replacement, Greg Stroman, was beaten for an easy touchdown by Smith. Norman returned on the next series.INGRAM’S BACKMark Ingram wasted little time putting his imprint on his first game back from a four-game suspension for use of a banned substance. He scored two of the Saints first three touchdowns on short runs and finished with 53 yards rushing and 20 receiving.“Just an exciting moment just being back with my teammates,” Ingram said. “Just a lot of pent-up emotion, being away from my guys, being able to come back out here. I don’t take anything about this game for granted.”PETERING OUTVeteran running back Adrian Peterson was looking resurgent coming into a game against the team that traded him away early last season.He left the Superdome with a shoulder strain and was scheduled for an MRI.Before his injury, Peterson gained 36 yards on two catches out of the backfield, but had only 6 yards rushing on four carries. CLEVELAND (AP) — Drew Brees sees a lot of himself in Browns rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield.And then some.“I think he can be a lot better than me,” the New Orleans Saints star said Wednesday.A fellow Texan, Brees has never met Mayfield but he’s tracked his playing career from afar and has been impressed by virtually everything he’s seen from the Heisman Trophy winner, now waiting his turn to play in Cleveland. Brees, who will face the Browns on Sunday, loves Mayfield’s competitiveness and playmaking ability, and believes he can develop into one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks.“He’s got all the tools,” said Brees P. J. Williams Color Rush Jersey , who could pass Peyton Manning and Brett Favre this season on the career list for yards passing. “He’s more athletic. He probably can run around better. He’s got a stronger arm. He’s got all the tools.”Brees would know. Now in his 18th season, the 39-year-old has been defying preconceived opinions about quarterbacks and proving people wrong from the moment the Chargers drafted him in the second round in 2001.Too short. Too slow. Too this. Too that. It won’t say any of those things on his Hall of Fame bust.Brees has broken the mold on what a star quarterback is supposed to look like. And while he might not be able to look many of his QB peers in the eye, he’s been able to make up for any physical limitations with other gifts.“I don’t know what it’s like to be 6-foot-5 because I never will be 6-5, never have been 6-5,” Brees said. “But I’ll say it like this: If every one of you closed your eyes, all of your other senses would be heightened, your sense of smell, your sense of hearing, all that other stuff. So maybe because I’m 6 feet, maybe there’s certain things that I can’t see as well, but for that reason, maybe I can hear it and feel it better because that’s what I’ve had to do my whole career.“You find a way to make up for it. You just get it done.”By doing what he’s done for nearly two decades, Brees has paved the way for Mayfield — and other smaller quarterbacks — to follow his footsteps.If not for Brees and his major success as a multi-year Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion, it’s unlikely the Browns would have taken a chance on Mayfield and drafted him first overall.“I do take a lot of pride in that,” Brees said.Mayfield was a walk-on at Texas Tech and again at Oklahoma https://www.thesaintsfanshop.com/Kurt-Coleman-Jersey , where he became one of the school’s most celebrated players. And while he didn’t have the strongest arm or best 40-yard dash time or some of the other physical attributes the other QBs in this year’s class could boast, Brees said Mayfield has shown he can win.“Well, at some point you just have to look at results, right?” he said. “So you have to let your mind go past the measurable — maybe how big a guy is or how fast he runs or that kind of stuff and just turn on the tape and does the guy compete? Does the guy make plays? Does the guy win football games? And obviously he’s proven he can do all those things.”When Brees broke in, he was a backup for Doug Flutie, another undersized QB who showed it’s not just a game for big men. Brees watched Flutie excel at a high level and molded his game accordingly.“I had a chance to learn from one of the absolute best in my opinion, especially when it came to just having to at times just make plays because of your size and maybe certain limitations,” Brees said. “He would get the job done. So I had a chance to learn from a guy like that and I owe him a lot of credit. We call it the 6-foot and under club. All the 6-foot guys, we kind of know what it’s like.“We kind of have the chip on our shoulder ’cause we’ve heard it our whole life. I just kind of chuckle at it. Maybe it is something. Maybe it isn’t. But it gives us an edge.”Brees was asked if Mayfield is in the under 6-foot club.“Well, is he 6-foot and under?” Brees said.He was told Mayfield measured just a shade over 6 feet.“All right, well, that counts,” Brees said. “He’s in the club.”