Miami Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington, who suffered two tears to his rotator cuff and has undergone as many surgeries to repair it, is often compared to Cook because their injuries are so similar ; his injury was also similar to that suffered by New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who had surgery on his rotator cuff after the 2005-06 season and finished the following season as an All-Pro quarterback.

The Saints were aggressive in free agency, signing former San Diego Chargers QB Drew Brees, who was coming off of orthopedic surgery.

" Seven people testified, 2 sworn affidavits ( one by Drew Brees ) all saying the same thing.

Rivers threw for 4, 254 yards ( 8th ), 28 TD's ( tied-6th ), 8. 8 yards per passing attempt ( 1st ), 64 completions of 20 + yards ( 1st ), only 9 INT's ( 4th with a minimum 400 pass attempts ), and a 104. 4 passer rating ( 3rd – only beaten by Drew Brees & Brett Favre ).

He threw for 3, 969 yards, a then-franchise record 35 touchdown passes with only 10 interceptions, completed an 70. 28 percent of his passes — the highest completion percentage of the 1990s, third all-time, and at the time, the best completion percentage by any quarterback with more than 400 attempts ( later eclipsed by Drew Brees in 2009 ).

Warner and Green's combined gross passing yard total was 5, 492, which, if held by just one player, would surpass the single-season record held by Drew Brees ( 5, 476 yards ).

He received 27 of the 50 votes cast, finishing far ahead of the 8. 5 votes received by second-place finisher Drew Brees.

Brees holds the NFL single-season record for most passing yards in a season by a quarterback, with 5, 476 yards, which he accomplished during the 2011 season.

Ultimately, Brees was the second quarterback selected in the 2001 draft, chosen by the San Diego Chargers as the first pick of the second round.

However, in the last game of the 2005 season against the Denver Broncos, Brees tore his labrum while trying to pick up his own fumble after being hit by Broncos safety John Lynch.

Brees evaluated the incentive-based offer as a sign of no confidence by the Chargers and promptly demanded the salary a top 5 " franchise " quarterback would receive.

On January 5, 2007, Brees was named first runner-up behind former teammate Tomlinson for league MVP by the Associated Press.

In 2008, the Saints again missed the playoffs but Brees had a strong year statistically, finishing 15 yards short of the NFL record for passing yards thrown in a single season set by Dan Marino in 1984.

Brees also tied the record for most touchdown passes by the end of week 2 with 9.

Drew Brees totaled 371 yards passing, posting a perfect passer rating of 158. 3, and is the only person to throw for five touchdowns against a team coached by Bill Belichick.

Despite the disappointing end to the season, Brees was selected to his fifth Pro Bowl ( fourth as a Saint ) and was voted the No. 9 NFL player of 2011 by his peers.

In week 12 ’ s Monday night hosting of the NY Giants, the Saints routed the Giants 49-24 aided by Brees ' stellar performance with passing for 363 yards and 4 TDs passes extending his streak to 38 games.

" Brees responded by tweeting, " Thanks to @ DanMarino for his class and support during this run.

In week 17 against the Carolina Panthers, Brees closed out the season by setting 6 NFL records, finishing the year with 468 completions for 5, 476 yards, edging Tom Brady of the New England Patriots who also surpassed Marino's record with 5, 235 yards.

At the time of Anderson's retirement following the 1986 season, he held NFL records for consecutive pass completions ( 20 ), completion percentage for a single game ( 20 of 22, 90. 9 %, vs. Pittsburgh in 1974 ) and completion percentage for a season ( 70. 6 % in 1982 ), as well as the Super Bowl records for completion percentage ( 73. 5 %) ( since broken by Phil Simms ) and completions ( 25 ; Tom Brady and Drew Brees each hold the current record with 32 ).

His record for completion percentage in a season stood for 27 years after his retirement ( broken by Drew Brees in 2009 ).

Additionally, Gates was on the receiving end of a 33 yard pass from teammate Drew Brees in a flea-flicker play selected by fans online.

During the 1985 season, Everett led the NCAA in total offense ( 3, 589 yards ), which at the time was a school record ( since broken by Drew Brees ).

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, a former teammate of Flutie's, executed a drop kick late on an extra point attempt in the fourth quarter of the 2012 Pro Bowl ; the kick fell short.

Manning's Colts defeated the Chargers in 1998 and 1999, but in 2004 with Leaf long gone from the game the revamped Chargers behind Drew Brees erupted into playoff contention ; on December 26 with both teams at 11-3 the Colts hosted the Chargers with Manning close to matching Dan Marino's touchdown record ; the Chargers stormed to a 31-16 lead, but Dominic Rhodes ' kickoff return put the Colts within eight points, then with one minute remaining Manning rifled a 21-yard touchdown to Brandon Stokley, breaking Marino's record ; the two-point try succeeded, then after Brees was intercepted the game went to overtime and the Colts won 34-31 on a field goal.

The Saints, under rookie head coach Sean Payton and new quarterback Drew Brees, defeated the Falcons 23-3, and would go on to notch the second playoff win in franchise history.

Drew Brees ended the 2008 season just 16 yards short of beating Dan Marino's single-season record of 5084 total passing yards.

Drew Brees completed a postseason-record 39 passes for 404 yards and two touchdowns.

To cap off the season, quarterback Drew Brees broke the single season passing record held for over 25 years, on the way to a Saints division winning game.

Saints All-Pro quarterback Drew Brees made a controversial tweet on June 20, 2012 stating, " If NFL fans were told there were " weapons of mass destruction " enough times, they'd believe it.

" Brees immediately issued another statement to clarify, " My WMD comment has nothing to do with politics or our brave military.

* Passing Yards Per Attempt: 16. 1 Drew Brees ( November 30, 2009 vs New England Patriots )

* Passing Touchdowns: 6 Billy Kilmer ( November 2, 1969 at St. Louis Cardinals ) & Drew Brees ( September 13, 2009 vs Detroit Lions )

* Passer Rating: 158. 3 Drew Brees ( November 30, 2009 vs New England Patriots )

* Consecutive Pass Completions: 19 Drew Brees ( December 27, 2009 vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers )

* Passing Completion Percentage: 71. 2 Drew Brees ( 2011 ) – NFL Record

* Passing Rating: 110. 6 Drew Brees ( 2011 )

The Chargers used those selections in the 2001 draft to select Texas Christian University running back LaDainian Tomlinson and Purdue University quarterback Drew Brees.

Drew Brees, who received the majority of snaps at quarterback during Rivers ' hold out, would retain the starting quarterback position.

Despite an abrupt ending to their season, Head Coach Marty Schottenheimer was named NFL Coach of the Year for the season, and Brees was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year.

The Chargers would go on to lose their season finale to the Broncos, with Brees suffering a dislocated shoulder to end the Chargers ' 9 – 7 season.

Brees, whose contract expired at the end of that season, left the team and would sign with the New Orleans Saints.

( third to Brees & Manning ), 30 TD's, only 13 INT's & a 101. 8 passer rating ( second to Brady ).

The others are Steve Bartkowski, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, Dan Fouts, Dan Marino, Tom Brady and Y. A.