Introducing New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, last action hero
April 5th, 2010 | Football Marine Corps | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Drew Brees, quarterback of the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints, has made a habit of endearing himself to Marines. Considering Marine Forces Reserve is based in his back yard in the Big Easy, that makes sense, but few athletes have gone as far as Brees recently to show his Marine Corps love.
This may take the cake, however:
That’s Brees, handling some serious small-arms firepower in Djibouti on March 29 during a USO visit. He made the appearance with teammate Billy Miller and Donnie Edwards of the Kansas City Chiefs, meeting members of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., while they were training in Africa, according to this Marine Corps photo page on Flickr.com.
That’s the second USO visit overseas for Brees within a year, by the way. The last one resulted in him adopting a Marine running cadence to inspire his teammates.
Many troops saw Super Bowl, but no commercials
February 9th, 2010 | Haiti Marine Corps | Posted by Dan Lamothe
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees celebrates with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after winning Super Bowl XLIV against Indianapolis on Sunday. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
So, what was your favorite Super Bowl commercial? The bizarre Denny’s chickens freaking out? The Megan Fox lovefest? The increasingly bizarre Bud Light commercials that air every year?
Plenty of U.S. service members were unable to watch the game Sunday night due to operational commitments, but even those who did in many cases missed the commercials, which have their own little place in American culture.
Take the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which returned to its ships after completing earthquake relief work in Haiti and watched the game on Armed Forces Network, which airs public service announcements instead of rotting brains by airing commercials featuring flying Dorito ninja stars.
The MEU, based out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., posted semi-frantic updates on Facebook and Twitter about their quest to watch the game. First came this at 5:17 p.m. Sunday:
USS Nassau resupply complete – Marines and Sailors hoing signal comes back so we can watch Super Bowl
“Well, good for you guys!” supporters said. Then came this update at 6:30 — kickoff time.
So we have a signal!!!
Bingo! Good news! And then came another update that many civilians wouldn’t have expected at 7:23 p.m.:
Worst part of the SUper Bowl on ship – we don’t get to see any of the real commercials
Capt. Robert Shuford, a spokesman deployed with the unit, confirmed all those details in an e-mail to AfterAction.
“AFN does not play commercials but fills that time with different types of public service announcements,” he said.
The Super Bowl, it stands to reason, is probably the one piece of programming all year in which troops might actually miss watching the advertisements. On the upside, the MEU did post this update on Facebook after someone asked them if they sang along with The Who, who performed during halftime.
We did get to sing, and powerslide – Alot of Marines and Sailors are participating in ship’s activities for game
Where does Saints quarterback Drew Brees get motivation? The Marine Corps
November 30th, 2009 | Football Marine Corps | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Drew Brees learned a little something on a USO visit. (AP phot0)
The New Orleans Saints take on the New England Patriots tonight in Monday Night Football, which is as good of a reason as any to share the following: Drew Brees loves him some Marines.
At least that appears to be the case, since he not only visited troops overseas with the USO in June, but found motivation in a Marine Corps running cadence.
Jeff Duncan of the Times-Picayune has details:
Brees will address the team with a quick intro, then repeat the team’s 2009 mission statements: “Be special,” “Finish strong” and “Smell greatness.” Then the team will break into a spirited count, alternating numbers — “One! Two!” — with the words “Win!” and “Again!” The count builds to a crescendo, stopping, ironically, at 10, when the Saints start repeating “Again! Again!” clasp hands and break the throbbing huddle.
Brees is notoriously secretive about the chant, a derivative of a Marine Corps running cadence he learned during a USO Tour visit to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. But it’s meaning is clear: Win every game.
If anyone has YouTube video of the Saints’ chant in action, we’d love to share it.