Drew Brees

Drew Brees

Brees in Kuwait, 2007
No. 9     New Orleans Saints
Quarterback
Personal information
Date of birth: January 15, 1979 (1979-01-15) (age 30)
Place of birth: Austin, Texas
Height: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Weight: 209 lb (95 kg)
Career information
College: Purdue
NFL Draft: 2001 / Round: 2 / Pick: 32
Debuted in 2001 for the San Diego Chargers
Career history
As player: San Diego Chargers (2001–2005) New Orleans Saints (2006–present)
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
3rd in Heisman voting (2000) Big Ten Football MVP (2000) Maxwell Award (2000) NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award (2004) 3× Pro Bowl selection (2004, 2006, 2008) 2× All-Pro selection (2006, 2008) Co-Walter Payton Man of the Year Award (2006) NFL Offensive Player of the Year (2008) Franchise Records
Career NFL statistics as of week 11, 2009
TD-INT	195-108
Passing yards	29,375
QB Rating	91.4
Stats at NFL.com

Andrew Christopher "Drew" Brees (born January 15, 1979, Austin, Texas) is the American football quarterback for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He played college football at Purdue.

Brees has been selected to the Pro Bowl three times in his career - with the Chargers in 2004 and the Saints in 2006 and 2008. He was named the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year in 2004 and the Offensive Player of the Year in 2008.

Early years

Brees attended Westlake High School in Austin. As a senior, he led Westlake to the 1996 5A Division II State Championship, and won with a 55-15 rout over a powerhouse Abilene Cooper team led by star running back Dominic Rhodes, at Texas Stadium in Dallas. Westlake finished that season 16-0, their only undefeated season to date. Brees was named Class 5A's most valuable offensive player that year as he threw for 3,528 yards and 31 touchdowns.^{[citation needed]}

College career

Brees graduated from Purdue University with a degree in Industrial Management. He joined the Sigma Chi fraternity while attending and 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). He led the Boilermakers to the 2001 Rose Bowl, Purdue's first appearance in Pasadena since 1967. Brees was a finalist for the Davey O'Brien Award as the nation's best quarterback in 1999. Brees won the Maxwell Award as the nation's outstanding player of 2000 and won the NCAA's Today's Top VIII Award as a member of the Class of 2001. Brees was also fourth in Heisman Trophy voting in 1999 and 3rd in 2000.

As a senior Brees was named the Academic All-America Player of Year, the first Purdue Boilermaker since Bruce Brineman (1989) to earn national academic honors. Brees also was awarded for his humble and productive attitude when he was the recipient of Purdue’s Leonard Wilson Award for unselfishness and dedication. Brees guided the Boilermakers to their first Rose Bowl appearance in over 25 years.

Professional career

San Diego Chargers

2001 NFL Draft

Brees was selected by the San Diego Chargers with the first pick of the second round in 2001. While Brees was a senior at Purdue, he and LaDainian Tomlinson, then a running back for Texas Christian University, joked at a Heisman awards ceremony about how it would be great if they could be on the same team, because they attended nearby high schools in Texas and even played with each other in a league all star game. With the 2001 draft, they did end up on the same team.^[1]

Early career

Brees played in his first career game on November 4, 2001 against the Kansas City Chiefs. He won the starting job over Doug Flutie during training camp before the start of the 2002 season, but was later replaced during the 2003 season by Flutie.

Comeback

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. This forced the Chargers coaching staff to give Brees one last look and he remained the starter throughout the 2004 season. Brees was selected to the 2005 NFL Pro Bowl following an impressive 2004 season. He was named 2004 NFL Comeback Player of the Year.

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 have had to receive two future first round draft choices in return. He was not traded and continued to start 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, which was the 10th best in the NFL.

Shoulder injury

In the last game of the 2005 season against the Denver Broncos, Brees injured his shoulder while trying to pick up his fumble after being hit by Denver Broncos safety John Lynch. Denver tackle Gerard Warren hit Brees while he was on the ground, causing the injury. Brees underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair the torn labrum in his right (throwing) shoulder on January 5, 2006. Subsequent reports mention additional rotator cuff damage.

Brees was selected as first alternate to the AFC Pro Bowl team in 2006. He would have played in his second consecutive Pro Bowl due to the injury to starter Carson Palmer, but his own injury dictated that the AFC Pro Bowl roster would have to be filled by second alternate Jake Plummer.

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 took the incentive-based offer as a sign of no confidence by the Chargers and promptly demanded the type of money a top 5 "franchise" quarterback would receive.

New Orleans Saints

Brees warming up in Wembley Stadium in a game against the San Diego Chargers

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 asked Brees if he would be willing to take less guaranteed money so they could fit him under their salary cap, but Brees refused. The Dolphins ended negotiations and traded for Minnesota Vikings QB Daunte Culpepper instead. Brees signed a 6-year, $60 million deal with the Saints on March 14, 2006.

2006-2007 Season

Brees had a productive year in 2006. He 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. Brees was named starting quarterback for the NFC in the 2007 Pro Bowl. On January 5, 2007, Brees was named first runner-up behind former teammate Tomlinson for league MVP by the Associated Press. Brees and Tomlinson were co-recipients of the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.

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 vs. the Philadelphia Eagles in the Louisiana Superdome. On January 21, Brees led the Saints to the franchise's first NFC Championship Game. Though he completed 27 of 49 passes for 354 yards against the Chicago Bears, and two touchdowns, Brees committed three costly turnovers. He was penalized for an intentional grounding in the endzone, resulting in a safety. The Saints lost 39-14.^[2] Brees dislocated his left elbow during the first quarter of the Pro Bowl.

2007-2008 season

Brees would finish the season with 16 starts, 443 completions, 655 attempts for a 67.6 completion percentage and 4428 yards, 276.8 yards/game, 6.8 yards/attempt, 28 touchdowns & 18 interceptions.

2008-2009 season

In 2008, Brees finished 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.^[3] He passed for 300 yards ten times during the season, tying Rich Gannon's 2002 record. He was named FedEx Air Player of the Week for his performances during weeks 8 and 12 and was named the AP 2008 Offensive Player of the Year.^[4]

Career statistics

San Diego Chargers franchise records

• Highest Comp. %, Season (Min. 14 attempts/game) - 65.5% (2004) ^[5]
• Highest Comp. %, Game (Min. 20 attempts) - 88.0% vs. Oakland 10/31/2004 ^[5]
• Highest Comp. %, Playoff Game (Min. 10 attempts) - 73.8% vs. NY Jets 1/8/2005 ^[5]
• Most Consecutive Attempts, None Intercepted - 194 (Oct. 17 through Dec. 5 2004) ^[6]

New Orleans Saints franchise records

• Highest Comp. %, Career (Min. 500 attempts) - 65.7% ^[7]
• Highest Comp. %, Season (Min. 14 attempts/game) - 67.5% ^[7]
• Highest YPA, Career (Min. 500 attempts) - 7.56 ^[7]
• Highest YPA, Season (Min. 14 attempts/game) - 7.98 (2008) ^[7]
• Highest Passer Rating, Career (Min. 500 attempts) - 93.8 ^[7]
• Highest Passer Rating, Season (Min. 14 attempts/game) - 96.2 (2008) ^[7]
• Most Completions, Season - 440 (2007) ^[7]
• Most Completions, Game - 39 vs. Denver, 9/21/2008 ^[8]
• Most Consecutive Completions - 17 (12/16/07 to 12/23/07) ^[9]
• Most Pass Attempts, Season - 652 (2007) ^[7]
• Most Pass Attempts, Game - 60 (tied with Aaron Brooks) ^[9]
• Most Passing Yards, Season - 5069 (2008) ^[7]
• Most Passing Yards, Game - 510 vs. Cincinnati, 11/19/2006 ^[9]
• Most 4000 Yard Passing Seasons - 3 ^[7]
• Most Consecutive 4000 Yard Passing Seasons - 3 (2006-08) ^[7]
• Most Games w/300+ Yards Passing, Season - 10 (2008) ^[10]
• Most Consecutive Games w/300+ Yards Passing - 5 (2006) ^[10]
• Most Touchdown Passes, Season - 34 (2008) ^[7]
• Most Touchdown Passes, Game - 6 (9/13/2009) (tied with Billy Kilmer)
• Most Touchdown Passes On Opening Day, 6 (2009)

Personal life

Brees and his wife Brittany purchased and renovated a home in Uptown New Orleans, and he has been involved in Hurricane Katrina recovery.^[11] Drew and Brittany’s Brees Dream Foundation announced a partnership^[12][13] 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. 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.

Brees regularly wears contact lenses;^{[citation needed]} during the first game of the Saints' 2007 regular season against the Indianapolis Colts, Brees had one of them knocked out during a play. He had to return to the sidelines to replace it.

Brees is allergic to dairy, wheat, gluten, and eggs. ^[14]

Brees was born with 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.^[15]

Brees visited the Guantanamo Bay detention camp on a USO tour in late June 2009. Following his return, Brees claimed Guantanamo captives were being treated ten times better than convicts in U.S. prisons. ^{[16][17][18][19]}

Brees's mother, Mina Brees, died in 2009 at age 59. The death was ruled a suicide.^[20] Brees was briefly excused from training camp for a "family matter".^[21] In 2006, Brees described their relationship as "nonexistent" ever since he refused to hire her as his agent when he entered the NFL.^[22][23] After her death, Brees stated that this quote was three years old and that his relationship with his mother had been improving.^[24]

Brees and his wife, Brittany, have a son, Baylen Robert.^[25]

Other

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (November 2009)

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.^[26] In June 2008, Brees is participating 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^[27].

Drew Brees signs autographs at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base on June 29 2009, along with fellow NFL players Billy Miller and Donnie Edwards.

See also

• NFL career passer rating leaders
• List of NFL Quarterbacks who have passed for 400 or more yards
• List of 300-Yard Passing Games by NFL Quarterbacks
• NFL QB Playoff records as starters

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Drew Brees

• The Brees Dream Foundation
• New Orleans Saints bio