Before he became a Pro Bowl quarterback who led the Chargers to the playoffs, Drew Brees was booed at Qualcomm Stadium.
It seems so impossible, so long ago.
He deserves to be cheered Sunday.
At least once, Brees should be appreciated upon his return to where his astonishing career began. He most certainly should not be booed. Appreciating what Brees did here and has done since he left is not a referendum on Philip Rivers or anyone or anything else.
There is no reason to be mad at Brees, no reason to be mad at the Chargers for Brees leaving. This is the rare divorce wherein everyone came out well. Especially Brees.
What must be most respected is that, plain and simple, Brees' story is one of redemption that comes from resilience.
Brees will play a football game in San Diego on Sunday for the first time in more than a decade, for the first time since he walked off the Qualcomm turf holding his right arm at his side, for the first time since surgery on his throwing shoulder left it anything but certain he would ever play at a high level again, for the first time since a team that was awful from a city that was devastated took a chance on him and allowed a Hall of Fame career to advance.
And none of that even touches on the dreadful start to Brees' career, so bad the Chargers drafted his replacement after three horrid seasons.
That replacement remains the Chargers quarterback, and the two will lead their teams against each other when the New Orleans Saints visit San Diego for the first time since 2004.
Brees returns as both a conquering and staggered hero.
His Saints are 0-3 this season. But in his time in New Orleans, Brees has done something Rivers and the Chargers have not. Brees led the Saints to a victory in Super Bowl XLIV following the 2009 season.
In fact, Brees did things in his first 10 seasons in New Orleans (2006-15) no quarterback in NFL history has ever done. His 48,555 yards, 6,276 attempts, 4,240 completions and 348 touchdowns are the most ever over a 10-year stretch.
Rivers' 41,299 yards in those 10 seasons _ from the time he took over as the Chargers' starter in 2006 through the end of '15 _ were second-most in that span. His 5,309 attempts were third, his 3,445 completions second, and his 280 touchdowns fourth.
The Saints have won 94 of Brees' 161 starts (a .583 winning percentage). The Chargers have won 93 of Rivers' 163 starts (.571). Both quarterbacks have been to the postseason five times since '06. Neither has been since 2013.
The numbers and the championship likely make Brees a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Barring his getting his own ring, Rivers seems destined to wait at least a few years as Hall of Fame voters consider his worthiness for a bronze bust.
The point is, we're left to do that sort of nitpicking if we're interested in determining a winner and loser in the Brees-Rivers conversion.
It shouldn't be a competition.
"It was a win-win situation," tight end Antonio Gates, the only current Charger to play with both Rivers and Brees. "The stats and the outcome have proven that. ... Whoever had to make that choice, you wouldn't want to do that. Drew and Philip, that's steel sharpening steel."
One of them was going to get traded. Not before 2006, but almost certainly the following offseason.
The Chargers had situated their cap space so that they could place the franchise tag on Brees for a second straight year in '06. It would have cost them $9.7 million. Then they planned to trade he or Rivers with the anticipation of a first-round pick in return.
Then came the decision by Marty Schottenheimer to start Brees in the 2005 finale despite the Chargers having been eliminated from playoff contention the previous week.
"Our starters will start, our starters will play," Schottenheimer said then, "because we have one objective and that is to get to 10-6."
Instead, in the second quarter of a loss to the Denver Broncos, Brees was sacked at the Chargers' 1-yard line, fumbled and then dove on the ball just before Broncos defensive lineman Gerald Warren fell on Brees' right arm.
After Brees underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum and rotator cuff, the Chargers still made him an offer of $2 million with the potential for it be worth $10 million. The Saints were the only other team to actually make an offer to Brees, essentially a one-year contract with $10 million guaranteed that became a six-year, $60 million pact when Brees proved to be as good as ever.
You can lament the fact the Chargers lost Brees for what turned out to be a third-round compensatory pick. But they had a franchise QB in the waiting and were just one of several teams that wasn't willing to invest in damaged goods.
The Saints, who had been to the playoffs once in 13 seasons, were as desperate as they were bold. Their city needed them, and they needed Brees. New Orleans was just beginning its recovery from Hurricane Katrina.
"When you have these rough times, you need something to lean on," Brees said the night he accepted the Saints' offer. "In New Orleans, that's the Saints. To know that maybe you can be a part of helping lift the spirits of many people in that city and rebuild that city, there's something to be said for that."
Also that night, Rivers said, "I'm excited. I'm just going to be myself and use this off-season to earn the respect and trust of my teammates."
Both immediately went about those purposes. They have been among the upper echelon of NFL quarterbacks ever since.
They should both be appreciated Sunday.
