Full name: Andrew Christopher “Drew” Brees
Born: 1979 January the 15th in Austin, Texas – Capricorn
Height/weight: 6’0″/209,4 pounds
Position: Quarterback
College: Purdue University with a degree in Industrial Management
Number: 9
Joined The Saints: 2006
College
Brees graduated from Purdue University with a degree in Industrial Management. Brees set an NCAA record with the longest pass ever (99 yards), to receiver Vinny Sutherland against Northwestern on September the 25th, 1999.
As a senior, Brees was named the Academic All-America Player of the Year, the first Purdue player since Bruce Brineman (1989) to earn national academic honors.
Brees also was awarded Purdue’s Leonard Wilson Award for unselfishness and dedication.
He led the Boilermakers to the 2001 Rose Bowl, Purdue’s first appearance there since 1967. In the game Purdue lost by ten points to the Washington Huskies 34 – 24.
He left Purdue with Big Ten Conference records in passing yards (11,792), touchdown passes (90), total offensive yards (12,693), completions (1,026), and attempts (1,678).
“The young man knows how to win.” —Veteran NFL coach Marty Schottenheimer
“On the field, Drew’s got peripheral vision. Off the field, he’s got blinders on.” —College teammate Vinny Sutherland
”We got lucky. College recruiting is not an exact science. I think his knee injury kept a lot of people away from him, and I think that Texas schools like their QBs a little bigger.” —Purdue head coach Joe Tiller
NFL
San Diego Chargers (2001 – 2005)
Brees’ college success led to projections that he would be a mid-to-late first round draft pick in the 2001 NFL Draft, but he slipped due to concerns about his relatively short stature for a professional quarterback, a perceived lack of arm strength, and a sense that he had succeeded in college in a system designed for him. Ultimately, Brees was the second quarterback selected in the 2001 draft, chosen by the San Diego Chargers as the first pick of the second round.
San Diego originally had the first pick in that draft, but traded it to Atlanta which used it to draft Michael Vick.
Brees played in his first professional game on November 4, 2001 against the Kansas City Chiefs. He had won the starting job over Doug Flutie during training camp before the start of the 2002 season. Brees started all 16 games for the Chargers during the 2002 season, leading the team to an 8-8 record. After a disappointing start to the 2003 season he was replaced by Flutie.
Brees’ career with the Chargers was put in jeopardy after San Diego acquired NC State’s Philip Rivers. After the trade, it was almost certain Brees’ days as the Chargers’ starting QB were over. However, Rivers held out nearly all of training camp. Brees therefore remained the starter throughout the 2004 season, where he started every game and lead the team to an 11-4 regular season record. The Chargers won the AFC West.
Brees became a free agent after the season and was not expected to return to San Diego, which had already committed a large sum of money to Rivers. The team eventually designated Brees a franchise player, giving him a one-year contract that quadrupled his pay to $8 million for 2005.
Under the terms of the franchise player contract, Brees was eligible to be traded or sign with another team, but the Chargers would receive two future first round draft choices in return. He was not traded and continued as starting quarterback for the remainder of the 2005 season.
Brees continued his productive play in 2005, as he posted a career high in passing yards with 3,576. Brees also posted an 89.2 rating, 10th best in the NFL. However, in the last game of the 2005 season against the Denver Broncos, Brees tore his labrum while trying to pick up his own fumble after being hit by Broncos safety John Lynch. Denver tackle Gerard Warren hit Brees while he was on the ground, causing the injury. Brees underwent arthroscopic surgery, performed by Dr. James Andrews, to repair the torn labrum in his right (throwing) shoulder on January 5, 2006. Subsequent reports mentioned additional rotator cuff damage and he also was treated by Dr. Saby Szajowitz to recover and regain muscle movement.
After the season, the Chargers offered Brees a 5-year, $50 million contract that paid $2 million in base salary the first year and the rest heavily based on performance incentives. Brees evaluated the incentive-based offer as a sign of no confidence by the Chargers and promptly demanded the salary a top 5 “franchise” quarterback would receive.
After the Chargers refused to increase their offer, Brees met with other teams. The New Orleans Saints and the Miami Dolphins were interested. New Orleans made an offer that included $10 million in guaranteed money the first year and a $12 million option the second year. Miami was unsure if Brees’ shoulder was completely healed and did not offer the money Brees was seeking. Brees signed a 6-year, $60 million deal with the Saints on March 14, 2006.
“The Saints made the right decision signing Drew Brees – not just in terms of his arm, but because of his heart and mind.” —Former NFL star Marshall Faulk
“He’s just so clam in there.” —Former teammate Donnie Edwards
New Orleans Saints (2006 – ????)
Brees had a productive first year with the Saints, as the team, under first-year head coach Sean Payton, rebounded from its disastrous 2005 season (when the team was unable to play in New Orleans due to the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina and struggled to a 3–13 record) to finish with a 10–6 regular season record and won the NFC South division title. Brees threw a league-leading 4,418 passing yards, finished third in the league with 26 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions and a 96.2 passer rating.
On January 13, 2007, in his first playoff game for New Orleans, Brees was 20–32 in passing attempts with 1 touchdown and no interceptions against the Philadelphia Eagles in the Louisiana Superdome. The Saints held on to win 27–24, and advanced to the franchise’s first NFC Championship Game against the Chicago Bears. Though he completed 27 of 49 passes for 354 yards against the Chicago Bears, and two touchdowns, Brees committed three costly turnovers, and was penalized for an intentional grounding in the endzone, resulting in a safety, as the Saints lost 39–14.
“I expect to make big plays. And when I don’t, I’m upset about it.” —Drew Brees
Brees then dislocated his left elbow during the first quarter of the Pro Bowl.
2007
The following season Brees passed for 4428 yards and tied a then team record with 28 touchdowns. He also set the NFL record previously held by Rich Gannon for pass completions in a single season with 440. However, the Saints missed the playoffs.
2008
In 2008, the Saints again missed the playoffs but Brees had a strong year statistically, finishing 15 yards short of the NFL record for passing yards thrown in a single season set by Dan Marino in 1984. He finished the season with 5,069 yards and became the second quarterback in NFL history to throw for over 5,000 yards in a season. He passed for 300 yards ten times during the season, tying Rich Gannon’s 2002 record.
2009 Super Bowl Season
The statistics this year speaks for itself:
In the first game of the 2009 season against the Detroit Lions, Brees set a career-high and franchise-tying record with six touchdown passes, (NFL record for opening week) going 26/34 for 358 yards.
The next week, Brees led the Saints to a 48–22 win over the Philadelphia Eagles, throwing for 311 yards and three touchdown passes. Brees also tied the record for most touchdown passes by the end of week 2 with 9.
In week 6 against the 5–0 New York Giants, Brees completed 23 of 30 passes for 369 yards, 4 touchdown passes and a passer rating of 156.8 in a dominant 48–27 victory.
In week 7, Brees led a dramatic comeback victory on the road against the Miami Dolphins, 46–34. The Saints quickly faced a 24–3 deficit in the second quarter, trailing for the first time all season at that point, and failing to score on their first possession as they had in all of their previous contests. Brees had a poor outing, but provided two crucial rushing touchdowns, one just before the second half to narrow the deficit to 24–10, and one in the third quarter to give the Saints their first lead of the game, 37–34.
The next week, Brees threw for 308 yards on 25 of 33 passing along with two touchdowns and one interception in leading the Saints to a 35–27 victory and franchise tying best start at 7–0 against the rival Atlanta Falcons.
In week 9, Brees helped guide the team to a 30–20 victory over the Carolina Panthers. This would be Drew’s first victory over the Carolina Panthers in the Superdome and allowed the Saints to take their best ever start in franchise history at 8–0.
In week 12, Brees led the Saints to an 11–0 record, defeating the New England Patriots 38–17 on Monday Night Football. Drew Brees totaled 371 yards passing, posting a perfect passer rating of 158.3.
After close victories over the Washington Redskins and Falcons in successive weeks to start 13–0, Brees and the Saints lost their first game of the season to the Dallas Cowboys, 24–17.
The Saints would then lose their last two games, with Brees sitting out the week 17 finale against Carolina. Their 13–3 record secured the #1 seed in the NFC.
In the divisional round of the playoffs, the Saints routed the Arizona Cardinals 45–14 to advance to the NFC Championship, where they defeated the Minnesota Vikings 31–28 in overtime. Brees completed 17 of 31 passes for 191 yards and 3 touchdowns.
The underdog Saints defeated the Indianapolis Colts 31–17 in Super Bowl XLIV on February 7, 2010. Brees tied a Super Bowl record with 32 pass completions and won the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award. He threw for 288 yards and 2 touchdowns.
It was the first league championship in Saints franchise history.
“I’ve never seen an athlete mentally tougher or more motivated.” —Dr. James Andrews
“Drew is a very intelligent QB who knows exactly how to manage a game.” —Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson
“He’s something else!” —Saints head coach Sean Payton
“The only team that believed in me was the Saints, and I feel like I owe them a great debt of gratitude. I want to give them what they saw in me – a guy who could lead this team to a championship.” — Drew Brees
“When you care about a guy beyond just the field, that’s when the chemistry becomes really special.” —Drew Brees
“We always try to mix it up-three-step drop, five-step drop, seven-step drop, naked bootleg. We spread out all these kinds of things to keep the defensive pass rush unbalanced.” —Drew Brees
“The Super Bowl is a realistic goal.” —Drew Brees
“I expect to win out there.” —Drew Brees
“We’ve got something special going here. We want to keep it going. You don’t have many opportunities like this, and the window of opportunity for us is now.” —Drew Brees
“Four years ago, who ever thought this would have happened?” —Drew Brees
“We just believed in ourselves, and we knew that we had an entire city and maybe an entire country behind us. What can I say? I tried to imagine what this moment would be like for a long time, and it’s better than expected.” —Drew Brees
“I’m just feeling like it was meant to be. What can I say? The birth of my son, and in the first year of his life, we won a Super Bowl Championship. ” —Drew Brees
Awards and highlights
1996:
- Texas High School 5A Most Valuable Offensive Player in 1996 and led Westlake HS to 16-0 record and state championship.
1998:
- Big Ten player of the Year
1999:
- Fourth in Heisman Trophy
2000:
- Third in Heisman Trophy
- Big Ten player of the Year
- MAXWELL AWARD WINNER – college player of the year
- ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN player of the year
2001:
- NCAA´s Today’s Top VIII Award
2004:
- NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year
- Pro Bowl
2005:
- First alternate to the AFC Pro Bowl team
2006:
- NFC Offensive Player of the Year
- NFL Alumni QB of the year
- Pro Bowl
- All-Pro award
- Co-Walter Payton Man of the Year Award (with Tomlinson)
- First runner-up after former teammate Tomlinson as the leagues MVP by the af Associated Press
- FED EX AIR player of the year
2008:
- NFL Offensive Player of the Year
- NFC Offensive Player of the Year
- Pro Bowl
- All-Pro awards
- FED EX AIR Player of the Week
2009:
- NFC Offensive Player of the Year
- Pro Bowl
- NFL Alumni QB of the year
- All-Pro awards
- Maxwell Football Club’s Bert Bell Award
- FED EX AIR player of the year
2010:
- Pro Bowl
- Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award
- Maxwell Football Club’s Bert Bell Award
- Galloping Gobbler Award
- Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year (both for winning the Super Bowl and for his charitable work towards the reconstruction of New Orleans)
- AP Male Athlete of the Year
- Runner-up in the vote to be AP MVP, Offensive Player of the Year
- All-Pro awards
2011:
- On the cover of Electronic Arts’ Madden NFL 11
National Football League records
Most completions, season – 440 (2007)
Highest completion percentage, season – 70.62% (2009)
Highest completion percentage, career postseason – 66.67% (150/225)
Lowest interception percentage, career postseason – 0.89%
Most completions in a Super Bowl – 32 (Super Bowl XLIV; tied with Tom Brady)
New Orleans Saints franchise records
Highest Comp. %, Career (Min. 500 attempts) – 65.7%
Highest Comp. %, Season (Min. 14 attempts/game) – 70.62% (2009)
Highest YPA, Career (Min. 500 attempts) – 7.56
Highest YPA, Season (Min. 14 attempts/game) – 8.5 (2009)
Highest Passer Rating, Career (Min. 500 attempts) – 93.8
Highest Passer Rating, Season (Min. 14 attempts/game) – 109.6 (2009)
Most Completions, Season – 440 (2007)
Most Completions, Game – 39 vs. Denver, 9/21/2008
Most Consecutive Completions – 19 (12/27/09)
Most Pass Attempts, Season – 652 (2007)
Most Pass Attempts, Game – 60 (tied with Aaron Brooks)
Most Passing Yards, Season – 5069 (2008) (Second highest in NFL history)
Most Passing Yards, Game – 510 vs. Cincinnati, 11/19/2006 (Sixth highest in NFL history)
Most 4000 Yard Passing Seasons – 4
Most Consecutive 4000 Yard Passing Seasons – 4 (2006–09)
Most Games w/300+ Yards Passing, Season – 10 (2008)
Most Consecutive Games w/300+ Yards Passing – 5 (2006)
Most Touchdown Passes, Season – 34 (2008 and 2009)
Most Touchdown Passes, Game – 6 (9/13/2009) (tied with Billy Kilmer)
Most Touchdown Passes On Opening Day, 6 (2009)
Most Touchdown Passes, Career – 147
San Diego Chargers franchise records
Highest Comp. %, Season (Min. 14 attempts/game) – 65.5% (2004)
Highest Comp. %, Game (Min. 20 attempts) – 88.0% vs. Oakland 10/31/2004
Highest Comp. %, Playoff Game (Min. 10 attempts) – 73.8% vs. NY Jets 1/8/2005
Most Consecutive Attempts, None Intercepted – 194 (Oct. 17 through Dec. 5 2004)
Did you know…
Drew Brees is allergic to dairy, wheat, gluten, and eggs.
Brees regularly wears contact lenses while playing and during his regular life; this fact was cited during the first game of the Saints’ 2007 regular season against the Indianapolis Colts in which Brees had one of them knocked out during a play. He had to return to the sidelines to replace it.
Brees was born with a birthmark, a mole on his right cheek. When Brees was 3, his parents considered having the birthmark removed, but doctors said that there was no medical reason to remove it. Tried to had it removed a coupe of years ago, but now the birthmark is more like an scar.
On Purdue Brees was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.
Brees could have gone to Brown University, and said that if he had, he might be in politics right now.
Brees has acquired the nickname “Breesus” among Saints fans.
On February 18, 2007, Brees was honored by the Krewe of Bacchus (a New Orleans Mardi Gras parade club) as the 2007 Bacchus Grand Marshal. This was only the second time in the Krewe’s 39 year history that they named a Grand Marshal.
In February 2008, Brees signed a promotional deal with Chili’s Grill & Bar to promote the chain’s new line of hamburgers. The promotion helped raise money for charity.
In June 2008, Brees participated in the Pro Sports Team Challenge, a competition for pro athletes to help raise money for charities. The charity Brees played for was Operation Kids.
Brees visited the Guantanamo Bay detention camp on a USO tour in late June 2009. Following his return, Brees was quoted as stating that Guantanamo captives were being treated ten times better than convicts in U.S. prisons.
Brees in the Who Dat Victory Parade, Canal Street, New Orleans, after the Super Bowl XLIV win.
Brees again presided as Bacchus during the 2010 parade on February 14, 2010, one week after the Super Bowl during Mardi Gras season.
In June 2010, President Obama appointed Brees to be co-chair of the newly renamed President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition.
“I was honored to spend time with the President on an issue that is clearly important to him. I was also impressed by his wide receiver skills.” —Drew Brees
In 2010, as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Brees appeared in a commercial to raise awareness of the spill.
Family and personal life
Like many professional football players, Drew Brees came from a “football family.” His grandfather, Ray Akins, is a legendary Texas High School football coach, and his uncle, Marty Akins was the starting quarterback for the University of Texas:
• Led UT to 27 wins during his three seasons
• Co-captain, All-SWC and MVP of 1975 team, which was 10-2 and won SWC co-championship
• First wishbone quarterback to earn All-America honors (1975)
• Only player to start three years at quarterback for Darrell Royal
• Career totals include 1,974 rushing yards, 1,188 passing yards, and 25 touchdowns • Drafted by NFL St. Louis Cardinals
Mom was and dad is an attorney and divorced in 1987.
Brees’ mother, Mina, died on August 7, 2009 age 59. Brees was briefly excused from training camp. In 2006, Brees had described their relationship as “nonexistent” since he refused to hire her as his agent when he entered the NFL. After her death, however, Brees pointed out that this quote was three years old, and he said that his relationship with his mother had been improving.
Brees´ brother Reid Brees playes baseball as an OF for Baylor.
Brees married his college sweetheart, Brittany Dudchenko, in February 2003. They both met and dated while attending Purdue University.
“What you see is what you get with Drew. There are no airs, no hidden agenda.” —Brittany Brees
Brees had already endeared himself to New Orleans far beyond the playing field. He and his wife Brittany chose to purchase and renovate a home in Uptown New Orleans, and he also involved himself heavily in charities engaged in Hurricane Katrina recovery. Drew and Britney’s Brees Dream Foundation announced a partnership in 2007 with international children’s charity Operation Kids, to rebuild and restore academic and athletic facilities, parks and playgrounds, after-school programs, mentoring programs for the intellectually disabled, neighborhood revitalization projects and child care facilities in New Orleans.
“Drew and Brittany have been a great addition to New Orleans.” —Former NFL star Archie Manning
“Drew is a microcosm of that city—what his comeback from shoulder surgery represents.” —Personal Trainer Todd Durkin
“I was brought here [New Orleans] for a reason. I feel like I can make a tremendous impact, not only with the team but in the community.” —Drew Brees
“I get people stopping me on the street like twenty times a day, telling me how great it makes them feel and how it just helps them to go about their day and rebuild their lives. It means a tremendous amount.” —Drew Brees
“I don’t know about voodoo, but I believe in destiny.” —Drew Brees
Brees and his wife Brittany welcomed their first child, a son named Baylen Robert Brees on January 15, 2009, which was also Brees’ 30th birthday. Their second son, Bowen Christopher Brees, was born on October 19, 2010. With the news about the Brees adding a new member to their family, Drew also told his Twitter fans they didn’t have a name for the second baby boy and asked his 283,770 followers for name suggestions that started with the letter B. After a few days and thousands of suggestions they decided to name his baby boy Bowen.
On July 6, 2010, Brees released his first book entitled Coming Back Stronger: Unleashing the Hidden Power of Adversity. Coming Back Stronger opened at number 3 on the non-fiction bestseller list of The New York Times.
On March 30, 2010, Brees became the national spokesperson for AdvoCare International, a multi-level marketing company[34] producing weight management, nutritional supplements, and personal care products.
Brees revealed in an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes, which aired in September, 2010, that he was a top ranking youth tennis player who defeated Andy Roddick in competition. In a final match versus Roddick he was soundly beaten however.
In October 2010, Brees appeared in a video where he gave a strong anti-bullying message in the wake of a series of gay teenage suicides. The text of his speech included “If you think that making fun of someone is harmless, you’re wrong. If you think it’s OK to do because everyone else is doing it, you’re wrong. Bullying has to stop, and it has to start with you.”
Links
Sports Illustrated
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