NFL playbooks—especially on offense—in the third decade of the 21st century are getting thicker than a New York City Yellow Pages. Not only are there hundreds of plays – both pass and run – but now there are seemingly endless audibles for each and every one. The dozens of variations are referred to in code in the playbook, making it appear indecipherable to the untrained ear and eye. Hall of Fame QB Drew Brees is here to decode it for the layman.
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Brees was one of the best QBs of his generation from 2001-2020. During his playing days, he could be seen barking out audibles on many plays, indicating changes to things like the direction of the play, which way the protection slides, an option route for a receiver, a blocking assignment, etc.
During a guest appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Brees explained that it isn’t quite as complicated for the non-QBs as it may seem. Rather than memorizing the whole 12-word play, certain groups—ie receivers, running backs, tight ends, or offensive linemen—need to “listen up for” certain words.
“The good thing for the positions are, there’s really only a couple words that they need to just listen up for. But the entirety of the play talks to the entire huddle, but each grouping has their segment of it.”
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To give the viewers a better idea of what he was talking about, Brees provided a detailed example.
“So for example, ‘Green Left Twin Nasty’. So Green Left Twin Nasty is the formation. ‘Z Peel Tight’ tells the Z (No. 2 outside receiver) it’s a motion to a tight alignment (close to the o-line). ‘Pass 37 Buster Bluff’ is the protection. That just told the offensive line what they need to do. Now they’re tuned out, right? ‘X Post Y Bite’ I just told the X (top outside receiver) what to run, the Y (slot receiver) what to run.”
Still with us? Well, we’re not done yet. This is the point where Brees says the “zinger” comes in.
“But then here comes the zinger: ‘Kill’. That just means, ‘hey, I may change the play to ’53 Tight And Left’. 53 being the protection, o-line their ears perked up again. Tight And Left, just tell the running back that he’s running a screen to the left. So, ‘Green Left Twin Nasty Z Peel Tight Pass 37 Buster Bluff X Post Y Bite Kill 53 Tight And Left, on Go! (Claps)”
Imagine having to know 100 plays that were designated by a list of completely random words. It’s like studying for a million tests where every wrong answer results in a 300-pound defender driving you into the ground. Talk about pressure.
As you might imagine, NFL fans and casuals alike were amazed at Brees’ recall and the ease with which he zipped through that example play. One fan went as far as calling it a “foreign language.”
octlibra12: “It’s like a foreign language only football players understand”
sambucarocks: “That was kinda hot”
cbphone_: “I understood that better my girlfriends Starbucks order”
wiggly_piglet: “QB has to know everything! That’s what makes the greats great! Not just the physical skills, which is a must, but the mental skills to tell everyone what to do, fix things after a pre-snap, and then execute. No one was better than Brees at this.”
Instances like these are impressive but also helpful to dispel the age-old notion that football players are merely physically strong. They certainly need to have a mean streak and the right physical attributes to play the game. But, clearly, the mental aspect of the NFL game is far more important than many would like to think.
