There are reasons for this. Brees is short, at least by quarterback standards. And he plays a position that often values a strong arm and sound judgment more than raw athleticism, although those are qualities Brees also has in abundance. The biggest chip on Brees’s surgically repaired right shoulder is, according to offensive tackle Jon Stinchcomb, “how people undervalue his athleticism.” Stinchcomb laughed and added that Brees “would tell you all about it.”

Brees could have been a tennis player. As a boy, he defeated the future tennis star Andy Roddick three times. Brees and Roddick, who is two years younger, played in Austin in a group of future professional athletes that also included Chris Mihm, an N.B.A. center who is currently a free agent.

Brees could have been a basketball player. His Saints teammates joke that when he grows his hair long, he looks like Steve Nash, the point guard for the Phoenix Suns. Wide receiver Marques Colston, who plays pickup games with Brees, said he most resembled an off guard, a scorer and slasher who does not retain his gridiron propensity to pass.

Brees could have been a golfer. Brian Schottenheimer, the Jets’ offensive coordinator, who coached Brees in San Diego, said Brees possessed an “uncanny, unbelievable” short game made possible by his touch. Schottenheimer also noted a burning competitive streak in Brees, who made fellow hackers putt from inside a foot rather than allow a gimme.

Brees could also have played baseball, or pool, or soccer, or he could have become a decathlete, according to those who know him.

“Drew Brees is Superman,” said Chase Daniel, a backup quarterback for the Saints. “It’s that simple.”

Brees also, apparently, could have been an archer, though perhaps without the bow and arrows. The television show “Sports Science” proved this last April when it measured Brees’s accuracy throwing footballs at a target and compared it with the accuracy of elite archers.