As the Bears and New Orleans Saints prepare for another high-stakes game at Soldier Field on Thursday night, the quarterbacks couldn’t help but drift back to a different time, when Drew Brees was wrapping up a record-setting run at Purdue and Kyle Orton was wondering if he should follow him.
As a high school senior, Orton was thinking about reneging on his commitment to Purdue in favor of Colorado. A conversation at an Elite 11 football camp in California with Brees, a counselor, doused that thought.
“I told him, ‘You can do whatever you want to do, but, if you want to get a great education, want to have a chance to start four years, play in the Big Ten and throw the ball 50 times a game, then you should come to Purdue,’ ” said Brees, Purdue’s all-time passing leader with 11,792 yards. “It was really that simple.”
Orton recalled: “It was good advice.”
Brees probably wasn’t offering any tips this week — not with so much at stake.
Two years ago, the Bears beat the Saints in the NFC championship game at Soldier Field and, last year, they squashed New Orleans’ playoff hopes on the final day of the season. Now, at 7-6, both teams are trying to keep their playoff hopes alive without much room for error.
The Bears have to figure out a way to contain the league’s top offense and the prolific Brees, who with 4,100 yards passing is challenging Dan Marino’s single-season record. They also need a steady effort from Orton, coming off his best game since spraining his ankle last month.
Orton still was relatively quiet, going 20-of-34 with 219 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in a 23-10 win over Jacksonville on Sunday. Not exactly Brees-like, but a big improvement over the previous three games, when he completed 49 percent of his passes.
Against the Jaguars, he looked more like the quarterback who beat out Rex Grossman for the starting job — and the Bears could use that.
Orton started against the Saints as a rookie in 2005, when Brees was in San Diego, and again last season. But he was just a game-manager three years ago and was simply trying to convince the Bears he was worth a look the last time.
Now, the shackles are off — and the expectations are higher.
The Bears are trying to make the playoffs, and standing in their way is another Boilermaker who happens to be one of the league’s best quarterbacks.
