Drew Brees took more hits on Kelly Slater's surf wave machine than he does on an NFL Sunday ... saying learning to ride the waves from the surfing legend caused him to get "absolutely thrashed."
It all went down recently when the Saints quarterback took a private plane up from San Diego to Slater's wave park in Lemoore, CA ... and took on some of Kelly's epic man-made waves.
New Orleans @Saints QB @drewbrees.
And legendary surfer @kellyslater.
Hitting the waves! 🏄🌊🤙@wsl pic.twitter.com/yjpoTEnSLC
Brees couldn't ride the water for more than a few seconds ... with Slater estimating the QB fell on 8 or 10 waves "back to back to back."
But ... the story has a happy ending. Slater switched boards for Drew -- a "Cadillac to a Ferrari," as Brees called it -- and the New Orleans legend finally rode one!!
We're sure Sean Payton liked it ... and enjoyed it even more when his QB came back to practice in one piece.