Prior to the game, Brees was in many ways overshadowed by two of his contemporaries. He, of course, played at the same time as the league’s best field general in Peyton Manning and greatest quarterback of all time in Tom Brady. Add in multi-Super Bowl champion Ben Roethlisberger and revolutionary quarterback Aaron Rodgers and it wasn’t easy to stand out in the era in which Brees played. Super Bowl XLIV did that for the Saints’ quarterback.
