A Honest Look At Haslett/Brooks (‘00-‘04) (1 Viewer)

[Saint Jack]

I think Brooks is underrated as a QB. Was he perfect? No. But he wasn’t bad. Maybe it’s the nostalgia talking because Brooks was the first QB I saw with the Saints, but I look back on Hasslett and Brooks fondly and I think it’s time to honestly take a look at this era from ‘00-‘04. I decided to exclude ‘05 for obvious reasons. I wish there was a way the League could take that season off any record book, but anyway from ‘00-‘04, Haslett and Brooks had
1 NFCW title (2000)
42-38 (14th in the League during this span)
1-1 playoff record (win in 2000 Wild Card Vs Rams)

And just for comparison, the Falcons went 36-43

 

[Threads]

I think Brooks is underrated as a QB. Was he perfect? No. But he wasn’t bad. Maybe it’s the nostalgia talking because Brooks was the first QB I saw with the Saints, but I look back on Hasslett and Brooks fondly and I think it’s time to honestly take a look at this era from ‘00-‘04. I decided to exclude ‘05 for obvious reasons. I wish there was a way the League could take that season off any record book, but anyway from ‘00-‘04, Haslett and Brooks had
1 NFCW title (2000)
42-38 (14th in the League during this span)
1-1 playoff record (win in 2000 Wild Card Vs Rams)

I have Brooks above Archie in my all time list of Saints QBs, FWIW.

With that being said, what sparked you to reflect on that coach/QB pairing?

 

[SRAddict]

They were meh…I think that pair failed to take that next step after that WC win.

 

[Saint Jack]

I have Brooks above Archie in my all time list of Saints QBs, FWIW.

With that being said, what sparked you to reflect on that coach/QB pairing?

Just a nostalgia trip while watching a replay of the 2000 Wild Card game.

 

[Saint Jack]

I have Brooks above Archie in my all time list of Saints QBs, FWIW.

With that being said, what sparked you to reflect on that coach/QB pairing?

And I’d put Brooks at number two behind Brees, but if Winston pulls it off (minimum three seasons or championship run), Brooks will be three.

 

[2009ring]

They were awful. Just awful. They had one good year.

2002 was a year where they had to win just 1 game out of I believe 4 all against last place teams. They lost all of them including the Culpepper fumble/conversion on the 2 pointer to lose the game. No playoffs.

Haslett's press conferences were unbearable to watch. I wanted to punch the screen. It was always excuse after excuse why we lost. "Well, if it wasn't for those 4 interceptions in the red zone, we would have won." Made my eyes and ears bleed.

 

[xardoz]

Saints QB Mt. Rushmore is easy until you get to #4.

1. Brees
2. Archie (for the romantics out there)
3. Brooks
4. Billy Kilmer
5. (tied) A bunch of bums

 

[2009ring]

Saints QB Mt. Rushmore is easy until you get to #4.

1. Brees
2. Archie (for the romantics out there)
3. Brooks
4. Billy Kilmer
5. (tied) A bunch of bums

There is no number 3.

It's number 1, then Archie gets honorable mention, and the rest are just forgettable.

 

[gavinj]

Brooks was as talented as could be but he lacked the drive or the eye of the tiger, whatever you want to call it. I still have fond memories about a few of his amazing performances.

 

[Saint Jack]

There is no number 3.

It's number 1, then Archie gets honorable mention, and the rest are just forgettable.

I’d put Brooks above Archie. Even just that little bit of success should put him above.

 

[rsmith2783]

I think Brooks is underrated as a QB. Was he perfect? No. But he wasn’t bad. Maybe it’s the nostalgia talking because Brooks was the first QB I saw with the Saints, but I look back on Hasslett and Brooks fondly and I think it’s time to honestly take a look at this era from ‘00-‘04. I decided to exclude ‘05 for obvious reasons. I wish there was a way the League could take that season off any record book, but anyway from ‘00-‘04, Haslett and Brooks had
1 NFCW title (2000)
42-38 (14th in the League during this span)
1-1 playoff record (win in 2000 Wild Card Vs Rams)

And just for comparison, the Falcons went 36-43

It's interesting because when many think on this era, they place all of the blame on Brooks when in reality the true downfall of those teams fell on the shoulders of the defense.

The year we went to the playoffs was due to the fact that we had a top 10 defense. After that, I believe we ranked towards the bottom each year and Haslett was too stubborn to let Venturi go.

They were awful. Just awful. They had one good year.

2002 was a year where they had to win just 1 game out of I believe 4 all against last place teams. They lost all of them including the Culpepper fumble/conversion on the 2 pointer to lose the game. No playoffs.

Haslett's press conferences were unbearable to watch. I wanted to punch the screen. It was always excuse after excuse why we lost. "Well, if it wasn't for those 4 interceptions in the red zone, we would have won." Made my eyes and ears bleed.

They were not as bad as you think. If you look at our 7-9 years, they were very similar to the years we had under Haslett & Brooks: No defense, bad draft picks/ free agent signings & a winning offense.

 

[blotch1]

Think about what Payton could have done with Brooks. So much potential wasted.


EDIT: To clarify, I'm talking about having Payton instead of Haslett during those years. Not speculating on what Payton would have done with Brooks after 2006.

 

[xardoz]

Think about what Payton could have done with Brooks. So much potential wasted.

He did have that chance...

Brooks did not make that cut.

 

[Saint Jack]

Think about what Payton could have done with Brooks. So much potential wasted.

I think you’ll see what he could’ve done with Brooks when you see him with Winston.

 

[LordPoopington]

I think Brooks is underrated as a QB. Was he perfect? No. But he wasn’t bad. Maybe it’s the nostalgia talking because Brooks was the first QB I saw with the Saints, but I look back on Hasslett and Brooks fondly and I think it’s time to honestly take a look at this era from ‘00-‘04. I decided to exclude ‘05 for obvious reasons. I wish there was a way the League could take that season off any record book, but anyway from ‘00-‘04, Haslett and Brooks had
1 NFCW title (2000)
42-38 (14th in the League during this span)
1-1 playoff record (win in 2000 Wild Card Vs Rams)

And just for comparison, the Falcons went 36-43

Brooks and Haslett should always receive respect for getting us our 1st playoff win, especially Brooks b/c Brooks' best WR (Joe Horn) got hurt on like the 2nd or 3rd play of the game and Ricky Williams was still out with an injury (Terry Allen's corpse was our RB1 in that playoff game) and we were playing the defending Super Bowl champs. With all those obstacles, Brooks still outplayed Kurt Warner. Willie Jackson also deserves more remembrance than he seems to get for his 3 TD game that day, too.

The thing that sticks in my craw about the era as a whole is after 2000 the team and Brooks both seemed to have so much potential but they never realized it. In 2002, we should have made the playoffs but Brooks was laboring with a shoulder injury and Haslett refused to put in Delhomme (a mistake I attribute to Haslett - if Brooks begs out, everyone would say Brooks was soft). That 3-game stretch to close out 2002 (losing to MIN on a game-ending 2 point conversion Culpepper initially fumbled and kicked around the backfield, losing to a then 1-win CIN team, then losing at home to a bad CAR team) was truly one of the most miserable stretches of football for me as a Saints fan. 2001 also saw the team completely no show the final 3 games of the season when a playoff birth was still quite possible. And yeah, Brooks after that often failed the eye test - he seemed erratic, prone to poor decisions.

All this said, I'd still rank Brooks above Bobby Hebert in my Saints QB list (Bobby had 3 chances to win a playoff game in the Dome and failed each time). In 2015 or 16, Brooks was a guest at a Saints game and some people actually booed him when he was introduced. That was ridiculous. He's still always and forever the QB who won us our first playoff game and he'll always get a polite round of applause from me when he returns to the Dome.