Legendary New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame earlier this month alongside four other NFL greats. The league’s second all-time leader in passing yards, touchdowns, and completions has finally donned the gold jacket and will forever be enshrined in Canton, Ohio.

Brees, who amassed over 80,000 passing yards and 571 passing touchdowns in his career, was one of the most prolific passers the NFL has ever seen. His five 5,000-yard and ten 30+ passing touchdown seasons are more than any other player in NFL history. He may only have one Super Bowl ring, but statistically, nobody except for Tom Brady even comes close to Brees.

Hall of Fame week was an emotional one for the inductees. They spent the week around Canton, Ohio, doing interviews and riding in a parade before they were inducted on Saturday night. During that week, Brees sat down for an interview with EssentiallySports, where he talked about everything from writing his Hall of Fame speech to the longest play call he can still remember from his time with Sean Payton.

What Were the Emotions While Writing Your Hall of Fame Speech?

Brees: “I cried no less than 50 times writing that speech. Driving in my car, tears. Working out in the weight room, tears. On the plane the other day, tears. I tried to put myself in the moment and visualize everyone’s faces in the moment as I’m writing all the things I want to say about them, and I got super emotional about it.”

Get The Huddle Newsletter. The day's biggest NFL stories — rivalries, matchups, expert analysis, power rankings, and insider draft news.

What’s the Longest Sean Payton Play Call You Still Have Memorized?

Brees: “Oh, I’ve got them all. The first one that comes to mind is, let’s see, I have Jimmy Graham, (Robert) Meachem and Devery (Henderson) in my mind, so it would be something like ‘Green Left Twin Z Short Tight Pass 37 Buster Bluff Naked Right Kill 53 Tight Left.’ It’s basically two play calls. It’s a shot play, and if you don’t get the coverage that you want, you just want to throw a screen out to the running back and get the tackle out blocking for him. That sounds like a different language when I say it, but the guys in the huddle, they know the piece of that that applies to them.”

What’s One Moment You Would Go Back and Relive Right Now?

Brees: “I can reflect on quite a few, and it’s interesting; I couldn’t tell you what I had for lunch yesterday, but I could tell you every play from 2007. Explain that. When you’re in those moments, there are consequences. If you make a bad decision, you’re going to get yourself hit; you’re going to get somebody else hit. There’s real consequences to your decisions. I equate that to trauma. You are in this heightened level of focus because of the consequences. When that happens, it just imprints in your brain and in your mind.

“When I think about a lot of the great moments, and even the tough moments, they’re right there on my heart and in my mind, so I can remember the 46th consecutive touchdown pass to Devery Henderson against the Chargers in 2012 on Sunday Night Football in 2012. It’s 3rd & 7, we’re in empty, they’re bringing overload pressure, I’m sliding the protection, I’ve got Quinten Jammer over here – who I loved, I was in San Diego with him, and I know he’s an aggressive corner and he’s going to bite on the out fake – all I need to do is step up and lay this thing and Devery is going to be there. I can see it all, and I can do that with every one of those plays, so I don’t know what it would be.”

What is it Like Joining Your Fellow Saints in the Hall of Fame?

Brees: “We played this game in 2007, and at the time, we didn’t have any Hall of Famers. Sean Payton, I remember us going through and getting the tour of the Hall of Fame, and one thing that was evident was that the Saints were not well represented. I think it got Sean kind of fired up. We get into our team meeting the night before the Hall of Fame game and he said ‘by the time we’re done here, we’re going to have Saints in the Hall of Fame. There are guys that deserve to be in here, and we’re going to make sure they get in, and some of you guys are going to be in here.’ It was motivation for us all. Fast forward 23 years later, and we have some great men in.”