Drew Brees and Scott Fujita were opponents before they became teammates, Brees starting at quarterback for the San Diego Chargers from 2001-05 and Fujita starting at linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs from 2002-04.
And Brees, a second-round draft pick, made an early impression on Fujita, the Chiefs' fifth-round pick in '02.
As a blocker.
"(The Chargers) came to play us in a game in Arrowhead Stadium and they ran some kind of double reverse play where Drew ended up becoming a peel-back blocker and just blindsided — knocked the living daylights out of me," Fujita said. "And I just remember getting myself up, dusting myself off the ground and having a whole new respect for Drew. So, I knew his competitive nature, (and) also how much of a gamer he was. And that was before he was the 'Drew Brees' we all know today — just had that same kind of fire and tenacity even those first couple of years in San Diego."
But seeing it twice a year during AFC West Division battles differed from witnessing it daily as Saints teammates.
Fujita and Brees joined the franchise as free agents in 2006. Fujita landed in New Orleans for his recruitment trip before Brees; the quarterback visited Miami before traveling to New Orleans.
During Fujita's recruitment, he was provided some insight on the severity of the shoulder injury Brees suffered in his final game as a Charger.
"Some things were shared with me on my first day about the extent of what it really was and how it seemed like Miami might take a pass and we'd have a chance at him," Fujita said. "That was the first real scoop that I got. I remember seeing (the play on which Brees was injured), seeing how gnarly it was and then he and I were roommates our first year in training camp at Millsaps (College in Jackson, Miss.).
"We shared a suite together, so that's when I really saw how much pain he was in, how far he had to go to get ready to play. And then, to just see the work that he put in. It was just really, really impressive."
Considering the magnitude of the injury — a severe shoulder dislocation, a 360-degree labral tear and torn rotator cuff — it had to be.
"When we saw him that first week in training camp, I think a lot of us were like, 'Holy ----, he's not going to be ready to go,'" Fujita said. "We don't have a quarterback ready to go, we don't have a building that's ready to play in."
But the Caesars Superdome, ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, and Brees would be ready — Brees, in time for preseason and the regular season opener on the road against Cleveland on Sept. 10, 2006, and the Superdome, in time for the home opener 15 days later.
"I don't know that we really thought he'd be ready to go that quickly," Fujita said. "And we were just getting our teeth kicked in the first couple of preseason games. It was like the 'Bad News Bears.' But I remember Drew telling the story that there was just one ball that came off his hand — it just felt right. And after the game he went up to (Coach) Sean (Payton), he said, 'I got it back.' So, there was that moment where things just kind of clicked again.
"We kind of tripped over ourselves a little bit the first couple of (regular season) games that season and snuck away with some wins, but it's like you were just building something and each week, squeaking out this win, showing that we were competitive, but it also kind of gave Drew a chance to just get comfortable again."
Brees led the Saints to a 10-6 record, to the NFC South Division title and into the NFC Championship Game by completing 356 of 554 passes for a league-leading 4,418 yards and 26 touchdowns, with 11 interceptions. He wasn't named NFL Comeback Player of the Year — he'd already won the award in 2004 — but he was named the Walter Payton Man of the Year, a testimony to his off-field benevolence, on-field determination and recovery work that might have broken a lesser man.
"I had a front-row seat to that," said Fujita, who spent four seasons with the Saints (2006-09) and totaled 330 tackles, 7.5 sacks, four interceptions, 19 tackles for loss, six forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, 14 passes defensed and 12 quarterback hits in 56 games, with 54 starts.
"When you're the marquee quarterback, the face of a franchise trying to bounce back with what most people described as a career-ending injury, it takes an extra type of something. A kind of secret sauce and mind-set in addition to the hard work that is required to even come back from something like that. And Drew was just willing. You just have to be willing sometimes, and he was."
Willingness helped shape a Pro Football Hall of Fame career. On that, Fujita wasn't totally blindsided.
"I think it's impossible to really predict that for anybody," Fujita said. "But I think the makings of it were there. And when I say 'makings,' it's more about the mindset… the mindset and the competitive streak were there…I saw that the first time I ever played against him."
