Published by Tyndale on September 1, 2011
Genres: Non-Fiction, Biography
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When a potentially career-ending shoulder injury left quarterback Drew Brees without a team--and facing the daunting task of having to learn to throw a football all over again--coaches around the NFL wondered, Will he ever come back? After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, leaving more than 80 percent of the city underwater, many wondered, Will the city ever come back? And with their stadium transformed into a makeshift refugee camp, forcing the Saints to play their entire 2005 season on the road, people questioned, Will the Saints ever come back? It takes a special person to turn adversity into success and despair into hope--yet that is exactly what Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees has done--and with the weight of an entire city on his shoulders.
Coming Back Stronger is the ultimate comeback story, not only of one of the NFL's top quarterbacks, but also of a city and a team that many had all but given up on. Brees's inspiring message of hope and encouragement proves that with enough faith, determination, and heart, you can overcome any obstacle life throws your way and not only come back, but come back stronger.
Coming Back Stronger | Drew Brees
This is the story about how the Saints – the team who won it all – almost never was. This is story about how Drew Brees – Super Bowl MVP – was almost a career benchwarmer. This is a story about finding strength through adversity and Coming Back Stronger.
Brees’ sometimes heart-wrenching, sometimes heart-warming memoir, Coming Back Stronger, details the quarterback’s life from high school to Super Bowl, and as it does so develops from personal memoir into a city’s manifesto. Drew begins by detailing the struggles and successes of his high school and college years.
From there, Brees shakes it up a bit, giving a great chapter called “Girl Meets Idiot Quarterback.” Both amorous and humorous, Brees gives his readers a candid look into the wooing of his lovely wife and the great relationship they share. Drew talks about his struggles and successes as a San Diego Charger and how they affected not only how he played the game, but also his walk with God.
But all his idealism and goals came crashing to a halt on the last day of 2005 when he severely injured his throwing shoulder diving after a loose ball. The good prospects said it was an eight month recovery. Worse-case scenario, his NFL career was over. It’s at this point, that the message of Coming Back Stronger really begins to hit home. A devastating injury leaves a young quarterback’s future hanging in the balance. How will he respond?
Drew, a free agent, responded by signing with a team – and a city – even more broken than his shoulder: The New Orleans Saints. Hurricane Katrina had ripped through the previous year, inundating the city of New Orleans and turning the Saints’ Superdome into a refugee camp for several weeks. Now, in 2006, with a new coach and many new players, the Saints organization wanted to show that they were rebuilding right along with the city.
You can tell by Drew’s writing that the Saints’ fans aren’t just people who cheer him on. You can tell that New Orleans isn’t just a city in which Drew plays football. These are his neighbors; this is his city. To overcome the adversity brought on by one of the United States’ most devastating national disasters, the city of New Orleans was in need of a symbol of hope, something to exemplify the struggle to overcome – and they found that in the Saints.
To embody the principles of Coming Back Stronger, the story of New Orleans as a city and the Saints as an organization intertwines with Brees’ own personal journey. From that first back in the Superdome through the good-but-not-great seasons of 2007 and 2008 and finally culminating in a Super Bowl championship, Drew tells the story of looking adversity square in the face and finding ways to not just deal with it but to make it impact positively. Through his story he teaches us how to overcome the struggles our own life may throw at us while giving us an inspiring example to point towards. Drew’s faith and complete reliance on God factor in heavily throughout his story and he is quick to point out that he owes his drive to overcome adversity to knowledge that God had an ultimate plan for him.
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