Photo Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Photo Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

The go-to knock on Chip Kelly has been, for a few seasons now, that if he fails, he’ll just go back to college. No harm, no foul. But his biggest offseason move was inspired by the desire to do exactly the opposite.

Chip Kelly took a huge risk in trading for the oft-injured Sam Braford, but it’s just because he learned from Nick Saban’s mistakes, according to Fox Sports. When Saban was the coach of the Miami Dolphins, he passed on free agent Drew Brees because “team doctors felt Brees couldn’t mount a successful comeback from the shoulder surgery he underwent the previous season.” Drew Brees is having a hall of fame career post-surgery and Nick Saban got ran back to the NCAA. That’s what Chip looked at:

“The impact Drew had on the Saints was really what we studied. What would this league be like if Nick Saban had Drew Brees? Would Nick have ever gone back to Alabama?

It’s not like it was 15, 20 years ago. I think the advances in all of medicine have really helped from an injury standpoint. I don’t know if there’s a way to prevent it. I also don’t think this guy is more susceptible to it. When we look at his functional movement, we didn’t think it’s something where Sam is always destined to have this happen to him.”

Of course, Bradford isn’t exactly Drew Brees. And Chip Kelly isn’t exactly Nick Saban. Chip has turned in two 10-6 seasons, while Saban went 15-17 over two seasons in Miami. He’ll at least get a few more seasons before he would even consider having to retreat to the NCAA, but he’s hoping the Bradford gamble will prevent that.

Kyle: I’m not sure if Chip said this exclusively to FOX or sometime in the past. Hadn’t heard it before.