SANTA CLARA — Brock Purdy idolized Dan Marino by proxy through the eyes of his father, a former Dolphins fan who grew up in Florida.
The second-year 49ers’ quarterback is identified locally as the heir to Joe Montana after just 23 games, which would seem ridiculous except Purdy’s production has him in the running for the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award as the 49ers (11-3) host the Baltimore Ravens (11-3) on Christmas night at Levi’s Stadium.
But as Purdy’s career progressed through high school in Arizona and college at Iowa State, he found a logical comparison for his own skillset in Drew Brees.
Purdy turns 24 next Wednesday, so Montana had been retired for five years before he was born. Marino played his last game on Jan. 2, 2000, five days after Purdy’s birth. Right about the time Purdy was getting serious about football, he realized there was an NFL star in his prime with the New Orleans Saints who mirrored his own strengths and perceived shortcomings.
It was a topic of conversation on the CBS telecast of a 45-29 win over Arizona after Purdy has mentioned it to the broadcast team in a production meeting.
“My dad was a Dolphins fan, so he was like, `man, Dan Marino’s got a quick release and all that stuff,’ ” Purdy said Friday. “So growing up, I tried to throw quick like Dan. But then as I got older, I wasn’t old enough to watch Dan play, so Drew Brees was a guy I knew I was going to be a similar height with. And I respected how he was quick with his feet. He was very smart. He anticipated throws and he won games with his mind.
“My dad tried to teach me to throw like Marino, and I ended up loving watching Drew Brees.”
Brees retried after the 2020 season trailing only Tom Brady as the all-time leader in passing yardage with 80,538 to Brady’s 89,214. Brees’ 571 touchdown passes are exceeded only by Brady’s 649.
While it seems excessive to compare Purdy with a slam-dunk, first-ballot Hall of Famer, the parallels between the two are obvious.
Brees was 6-foot, 209 pounds and Purdy is generously listed at 6-1, 220. Both overcame serious arm issues, with Brees needing extensive surgery to repair a torn labrum and rotator cuff after playing four years with the San Diego Chargers and Purdy having UCL surgery after last season’s injury in the NFC Championship Game.
When the Chargers decided to draft Philip Rivers, he ended up signing with the New Orleans Saints because the Miami Dolphins, wary of Brees’ arm strength both before and after the surgery, signed Daunte Culpepper instead. in 2006. Miami, still searching for Marino’ replacement, went to the playoffs only one time in the next 10 years.
It was one of the best moves in Saints franchise history, in large part because Sean Payton introduced an offensive system which emphasized Brees’ accuracy, decision-making and leadership.
All of which sounds familiar to what Kyle Shanahan has built around Purdy, who has completed 69.8 percent of his passes for 3.795 yards, 29 touchdowns, seven interceptions and an NFL-best passer rating of 119.0. The highest single-season figure ever attained by Brees was 116.3 in 2018.
In a podcast with former Saints teammate Cam Jordan last month, Brees identified Purdy and Miami’s Tua Tagovaiola as similar to him in terms of being anticipatory passers who were similar in to him in physical stature and played a lot in college.
“They’re shorter quarterbacks, they’re not the strongest-armed guys, but they had a lot of college experience,” Brees said. “Tua had a lot of college snaps. Brock at Iowa State had a lot of snaps. I was a three-year starter in collee. I think that’s something that scouts look at when it comes to young quarterbacks that can’t be underestimated.”
Brees played 15 seasons with New Orleans, had a 142-86 regular-season won-loss record with nine playoff berths and one Super Bowl championship following the 2009 season. Willie Snead IV, a 49er practice squad receiver, believes the comparisons are valid.
Snead played his first three years with the Saints from 2015-17, and the first two seasons were the most productive of his career with 141 receptions for 1,849 yards and seven touchdowns with Brees at quarterback.
“The way Brock locks in, how serious he takes his craft, is similar to Drew and I noticed that right away,” Snead said. “When I saw Brock playing, he’s just dotting everything and he knows where guys are going to be. That’s where Drew was great. He didn’t have the greatest arm, but he knew where guys would be all the time. This system is like Sean’s in that it’s about having the right quarterback and putting the right guys in the right position and making good decisions.”
Snead also believes Brees’ pleasant nature and reluctance to self-promote is similar to how Purdy conducts business. Then everything changes when the game starts.
“He’s a competitor, he’s got that fire that compares to Drew,” Snead said. “If you watch cut-ups or his old tapes, Drew is the most competitive guy, and so is Brock. They don’t want to lose.”
Snead has talked with Purdy about the legitimacy of the comparison.
“Willie told me a lot about him, and that he thinks we’re similar in terms of our height and all that, but also the anticipation, footwork, mindset going into games, the competitiveness,” Purdy said. “To hear that come from someone who played with Drew means a lot.”