Like Drew Brees, Boomer Esiason Was Almost Lured Out Of NFL Retirement

Drew Brees wasn’t the only veteran quarterback asked to come out of retirement, and if we had to guess, he won’t be the last.

Prior to Monday night’s showdown between the Broncos and Chiefs, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Denver reached out to Brees about a potential return to the NFL last postseason. This was after Bo Nix suffered a season-ending ankle injury in a divisional round win over the Bills.

“People could say what they want, ‘not realistic, come on, not happening.’ I’m just telling you, that’s what happened,” Schefter said, via Awful Announcing. “Now you could decide for yourself how viable that was or wasn’t. I took some comments here: ‘Come on, why is this coming out now?’ Well, it’s coming out now because Bo Nix is making his return and their season is kicking off, and here’s an interesting scenario behind the scenes that was going on from last January that we didn’t know about.”

During this Tuesday’s episode of “Boomer & Gio” on WFAN, former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason revealed that he experienced a similar situation.

Esiason, who retired from the NFL after the 1997 season, joined ABC to become a “Monday Night Football” analyst. Even though he hung up his cleats, that didn’t stop teams from expressing interest in him.

“The same thing happened to me when I was at Monday Night Football on ABC,” Esiason said. “Bobby Beathard reached out to me to go play for the San Diego Chargers. I think I thought about it for about three seconds and then I said no.”

Why didn’t Drew Brees come out of retirement?

Brees actually thought about coming out of retirement, scheduling a brief workout with his son. However, he immediately felt discomfort in his wrist and shoulder. That was a clear sign his body wasn’t up for the challenge.

“HOF QB Drew Brees tells me he was contacted by former Saints coaches on Sean Payton’s staff about playing in the AFC Championship Game for injured Bo Nix the morning after Dan Fouts did the door knock informing him he was voted into the HOF,” Werder wrote. “Once assured nothing would change regarding his 2026 HOF induction, Brees took son Callen to nearby field to throw. Mentally, he was in for the Denver offer if he could perform physically and planned to convey that directly to Payton. Instead, Brees said his right wrist and shoulder were so damaged he couldn’t throw 15 yards with necessary velocity. That was the end of it.”

If we had to guess, it won’t be long before another NFL legend shares a story about flirting with a comeback.