As the title suggests, Coming Back Stronger is Brees’ story of fighting through adversity to eventually win the Super Bowl with the New Orleans Saints. The idea is made explicit dozens of times. Never give up, and always look for the positive in the situation you are in. Believe that G-d is putting you on the right path, and in this way, your adversity will only make you stronger. However, the story Brees tells does not seem to be a typical adversity story. Hollywood movies usually tell us of fanciful adversity stories, ones where someone goes from having absolutely nothing to having it all. Stories like The Blind Side fit this paradigm in the sports media.
While I certainly don't want to downplay Brees’ struggles they seem meager in comparison to the stories we usually hear. The basic adversity Brees describes is a parent’s divorce as a child, a torn ACL in high school, and his major injury a torn labrum, a shoulder injury which is obviously really bad for a quarterback, while playing for the San Diego Chargers. While these circumstances are certainly not ideal, and I am sorry for what he had to go through, they seem trivial compared to others. He still had loving parents, a brother that never left his side to help him as a child. He always had the great ability to throw a baseball and football. Football players go through injuries, so nothing seems so spectacular about Brees’ adversity. Ironically, it is exactly this fact that drew me (pun intended) to the story and to Brees as a person.
Hollywood isn’t real. In most situations, while we can to an extent relate to the characters in movies, we cannot ever feel their pain, or understand what they are going through. I can learn very little from Oher in the blind side because it is too big, thank G-d my life has not given me that type of adversity. However, the same is not true for a person like Drew Brees. While I have not ever gone through something like my parent’s getting divorced, I can certainly imagine it happening to me or to one of my close friends. The fear of not being able to continue his life’s passion is a very real fear, one that we all may feel from time to time. The fact that much of his strength comes from G-d was particularly enlightening. Brees’ faith, as described in the book, is a simple faith. Believe that G-d always has a plan for you and see the opportunity that He gives you. He even once compares the pain he has gone through to a furnace of a blacksmith (p.90), imagery that the Rabbis used to describe the necessity for our slavery in Egypt. It is a sincere deep faith that helps him get through anything life hands him. That is real and relatable. Brees furthers this from the simple way the book is written. The book is seemingly Brees’ stream of consciousness going through his entire story. It is merely a man writing his thoughts. He is not trying to convert anyone, not trying to preach. He is just relaying his experience as he felt it, hoping that it can help others get through their own adversity.
Brees’ emotional style makes Coming Back Stronger a great read. Brees is a true role model to football fans and non-football fans alike. As a religious person, he has been able to get to the top of his field, breaking the passing record this year, while helping many people along the way. May we all learn to see the good in our adversity, so that we are able to always come back stronger.
