Drew Brees setting the record for NFL passing yards Monday night transported me back to a mystical time when Brad Childress looked like an oracle and Nick Saban resembled a fool, a time that mired the Miami Dolphins in mediocrity and led the New Orleans Saints to the Super Bowl.
I was at spring training in Fort Myers, Fla., covering the Twins, when the Dolphins called a press conference so Saban could discuss, or avoid discussing, the signing of Daunte Culpepper.
I drove across Alligator Alley to find Saban standing behind a lectern, explaining why — or refusing to explain why — his team chose Culpepper as its franchise quarterback.