Son of Johnny Unitas Is Rooting For Drew Brees To Break his Father's Record

Since joining the New Orleans Saints, quarterback Drew Brees has put up some eye-popping numbers. He shattered Dan Marino‘s single-season yardage record in 2011, but perhaps his most impressive record is the one he will likely break this Sunday. With a touchdown pass to Marques Colston this past Sunday, Brees tied Johnny Unitas‘ record of 47 straight games with at least one touchdown pass. With another touchdown pass on Sunday against the San Diego Chargers, Brees will break one of the longest standing records in professional football.

And Unitas’ son, Joe, is perfectly fine with it.

Joe apparently sent words of encouragement to Brees in the form of a letter, which can be found on the Saints’ website. Unitas called Brees “a role model for today’s youth, a family man, and a humanitarian who cares for his community,” indicating that his father would be happy for Brees, were he still alive, for those very reasons. According to his son, Unitas always valued character over on the field individual achievements.

Johnny Unitas is considered one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game, setting pretty much every major record and setting the bar high for today’s quarterbacks during his career. He was the first pure passer and completely changed the way most people viewed the game. He is part of the reason why football drastically changed from a ground-game dominated slug fest into what we know it is today.

If you told someone in the 60s that in 2012 a team would win the NFL championship having the league’s worst rushing attack they would laugh hysterically at you.

I commend Joe Unitas for sending Brees this uplifting message. It not only will help Brees get through the agony of his team starting 0-4, but it will likely motivate him to break the record on Sunday knowing Unitas is looking down on him with a smile.