The Washington Football Team will face the New Orleans Saints on Oct. 10, and for the first time since 2006, the game will not feature perennial Pro Bowler Drew Brees. Needless to say, a lot has changed since then.
People didn't get notifications on their phones when Brees, who spent the first five years of his career with the Chargers franchise, signed with the Saints, because that wasn't how information was consumed back then. MySpace was the dominant social media site, and many of today's top players hadn't even graduated high school.
The world has been completely reshaped over the years, So take a look back at how things have changed since the last time Washington faced a "Brees-less" Saints team.
1. Star Wars was wrapping up its prequel series
Brees was on his way to throwing for more than 3,500 yards with the Chargers in 2005, but a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, George Lucas was wrapping up the Star Wars prequel series with Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. The first two movies -- The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones -- were largely maligned by fans and critics, but the third installment drew more praise and was the No. 1 grossing movie of the year, raking in $380 million.
2. "We Belong Together" by Mariah Carey was the song of the year
For Brees, tight end Antonio Gates was the quarterback's go-to receiver. For the rest of the United States, their go-to song was "We Belong Together" by Mariah Carey. Carey is one of the most recognizable icons today. She's been pumping out No. 1 hits since 1990, and "We Belong Together" was the 16th of her career. It was at the top of the charts for 14 weeks -- the second-longest running No. 1 of her career.
3. American Idol was in its golden years
Brees was heading into his fifth season in 2005. Meanwhile, the hit singing competition show American Idol was wrapping up its fourth season, and it was still a hit among viewers. While it still exists today, it's nowhere near the cultural phenomenon it was in the early 2000s. Its Tuesday showing drew a 17.6 rating, and its Wednesday showing was just as popular with a 17.2 rating.
4. The Nokia 1110 was the best-selling phone
While Brees was hitting a total of 10 receivers with a combined 338 passes, people were receiving calls from the Nokia 1110, which was the top-selling phone of the year by a wide margin. Good luck trying to play games on this 80-gram block; you had the option of playing Snake Xenzia, Pocket Carrom and Dice Games. The 2G Network was state-of-the-art, and the phone had five whole hours of battery.
5. The Xbox 360 took the video game world by storm
Brees wrapped up 2005 with the second winning season of his career as a starter. Microsoft, on the other hand, released its second video game console: the Xbox 360. The second generation console offered better graphics, a sleeker design and a new controller for gamers around the world. To sum up the reception of the console, people loved it. At the time, it was the best-selling console in history and had wildly popular exclusives like Halo 3 and Gears of War. In a similar fashion to how Brees helped shape the NFL today, the Xbox 360 revolutionized the gaming world.
Bonus: Taylor Heinicke was 12 years old
Today, Taylor Heinicke is Washington's starting quarterback with an inspirational story to boot. But the 28-year-old wasn't even in high school the last time the burgundy and gold played the Saints without Brees as their starting signal-caller. While Brees went on to join the Saints and win a Super Bowl in the following years, Heinicke had a successful stint of his own at Collins Hill High School in Georgia. Brees and Heinicke have a different playing style, but the one trait they do share is their ability to win over a fanbase.
