Drew Brees: Biography

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Drew Brees.Image via Wikimedia Commons

Who Is Drew Brees?

Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, he is second all-time in career passing yards, career touchdown passes, and career pass completions, and third in career completion percentage. Brees also holds the record of consecutive games with a touchdown pass, breaking the record held by Johnny Unitas for 52 years. He is regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.

Brees played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers, winning the Maxwell Award and Big Ten Most Valuable Player in 2000 and setting the Big Ten Conference records for completions, attempts, and yards. Due to questions over his height and arm strength, he was not selected until the second round of the 2001 NFL draft by the San Diego Chargers. Brees initially struggled before having a breakout season in 2004 when he led the Chargers to their first playoff appearance since 1995 and first division title since 1994, earning him Pro Bowl and Comeback Player of the Year honors. The following year, Brees suffered a potentially career-ending injury and left the Chargers in free agency.

Joining the Saints, Brees brought new success to a franchise that had only seven winning seasons, five playoff appearances, and one postseason win during the 39 years prior to his arrival. From 2006 to 2020, he led the Saints to seven division titles (including four consecutive from 2017 to 2020), nine playoff appearances, nine playoff wins, three NFC Championship Game appearances, and the franchise's first Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XLIV, earning him the game's MVP award. By the conclusion of his 15 seasons in New Orleans, he was twice named Offensive Player of the Year, extended his Pro Bowl selections to 13, and was selected to one first-team All-Pro. He also led the league in passing yards a record seven times. Brees retired after the 2020 season and spent the following year as an analyst on NBC Sunday Night Football. He also served as an interim assistant football coach with Purdue in 2022. Brees was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2026.

Early life

Early Life: Where Is Drew Brees From?

Brees was born on January 15, 1979 in Dallas, Texas, to Eugene Wilson "Chip" Brees II, a prominent trial lawyer, and Mina Ruth (née Akins; died 2009), an attorney. His grandfather fought in the Battle of Okinawa. A Sports Illustrated article stated he was named for Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Drew Pearson but in a 2014 interview Brees said this story was "just legend". He has a younger brother, Reid (born 1981). When Brees was seven, his parents divorced and shared custody of the boys, who split their time between both parents' homes. Today, he admits that it was a very tough and challenging life after the divorce; however, Brees and his younger brother, Reid, supported each other and became very close. They have a younger half-sister, Audrey, from their father's remarriage to Amy Hightower, daughter of the late U.S. Representative (D-TX) Jack English Hightower. Brees was raised Baptist.

Both of Brees's parents had athletic backgrounds. His father played basketball at Texas A&M, and his mother was a former all-state athlete in three sports in high school. His maternal uncle, Marty Akins, was an All-American starting quarterback for the Texas Longhorns college football team from 1972 to 1975, and his maternal grandfather, Ray Akins, had the third-most victories as a Texas high school football coach, in his three decades at Gregory-Portland High School. His younger brother, Reid, was an outfielder for the Baylor Bears baseball team, which made the 2005 College World Series; Reid now resides in Colorado, where he works in sales.

After moving to the Austin area, Brees did not play tackle football until high school and was on the flag football team at St. Andrew's Episcopal School, where his teammates included actor Ben McKenzie, who was in the same year. In high school, he was a varsity letterman in baseball, basketball, and football, and was considering playing college baseball rather than football. College recruiters quickly ran after Brees blew out his knee in the 11th grade. After overcoming the ACL tear, he was selected as Texas High School 5A Most Valuable Offensive Player in 1996 and led the Austin Westlake High School football team to a 16–0 record and a state championship. As a high school football player, Brees completed 314 of 490 passes (64.1 percent) for 5,461 yards with 50 touchdowns, including in his senior season, 211 of 333 passes (63.4 percent) for 3,528 yards with 31 touchdowns. When Brees started for two seasons, Westlake went 28–0–1 and beat a Dominic Rhodes-led Abilene Cooper 55–15 in the 1996 title game. He was given honorable mention in the state high school all-star football team and the USA Today All-USA high school football team, alongside former San Diego Chargers teammate and longtime friend LaDainian Tomlinson. Brees had hoped to follow in his father's and uncle's footsteps and play for the Texas Longhorns or Texas A&M Aggies, but was not heavily recruited despite his stellar record.

College career

Drew Brees's Career and Major Works

Brees received offers from only two colleges, Purdue and Kentucky, choosing Purdue for its highly rated academics. He graduated in 2001 with a degree in industrial management, and is a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.

After a relatively uneventful freshman season, Brees was given his first start during his sophomore year by Boilermakers head coach Joe Tiller and became an integral part of Tiller and Jim Chaney's unorthodox "basketball on grass" spread offense, serving as offensive captain during his junior and senior years. In the 1998 season, in a game against Wisconsin, Brees tied an NCAA single-game record with 55 completions and set the NCAA record for pass attempts in a single game with 83. He finished 31–24 loss with 494 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions. He had the option to make himself available for the 2000 NFL draft but chose to return for his senior year to complete his studies. In 2000, he led the Boilermakers to memorable last-minute upsets against top-ranked Ohio State and Michigan en route to the Boilermakers' first Big Ten championship (shared with Michigan and Northwestern) since 1967. The Ohio State game was replayed on ESPN Classic and is widely remembered for Brees's four interceptions and 64-yard touchdown pass to Seth Morales with 1:55 remaining to seal a vital 31–27 win, prompting commentator Brent Musburger to exclaim "Holy Toledo!" and a post-game field rush. Brees helped lead Purdue to a #9 ranking in the AP Poll, the program's highest spot since the 1980 season, during the year. Due to head-to-head victories over Michigan and Northwestern, Purdue won the invitation to the 2001 Rose Bowl, which was the school's first appearance there since 1967.

Brees was a finalist for the Davey O'Brien Award as the nation's best quarterback in 1999. He won the Maxwell Award as the nation's outstanding player of 2000 and 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 third in 2000. As a senior, Brees became the first Boilermaker since Bruce Brineman in 1989 to earn Academic All-America honors. Additionally, he won Academic All-Big Ten honors a record three times, was initiated into Mortar Board and awarded the Big Ten Medal of Honor and the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Award. Brees also was awarded Purdue's Leonard Wilson Award for unselfishness and dedication.

In his college career, Brees set two NCAA records, 13 Big Ten Conference records, and 19 Purdue University records. 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). He tied an NCAA record with the 99-yard pass to receiver Vinny Sutherland against Northwestern on September 25, 1999, and held the NCAA record for pass attempts in a game (83) for 15 years, until Washington State quarterback Connor Halliday broke it in October 2013.

Drew Brees's Personal Life and Relationships

In 2009, Brees was inducted into Purdue's Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame. The Big Ten Conference's Griese–Brees Quarterback of the Year award initiated in 2011 was named in his and Bob Griese's honor. He was named the Big Ten's best quarterback of the 1990s and ranked number 48 on the 2010 documentary Big Ten Icons, featuring the conference's top fifty student-athletes.

Professional career

2001 NFL draft

Brees's college success led to projections that he would be a mid–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 (6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)), a perceived lack of arm strength, and a sense that he had succeeded in college in a spread offense. Brees was the second quarterback selected in the 2001 NFL draft behind Michael Vick of Virginia Tech. He was chosen by the San Diego Chargers with the first pick of the second round with the 32nd overall pick. San Diego originally had the first pick in that draft, but traded it to Atlanta (who drafted Vick) in return for the fifth pick of the first round with which San Diego drafted LaDainian Tomlinson.

Where Is Drew Brees Now? Recent Years

Early career

In his rookie season, Brees was the backup quarterback to Doug Flutie, who started all 16 games that season. Brees played in his first professional game on November 4, 2001, against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 8. He came into the game to relieve Flutie, who had suffered a concussion. He finished with 221 passing yards and his first career passing touchdown, a 20-yard pass to Freddie Jones. The game against the Chiefs was Brees's lone appearance as a rookie.

On August 19, 2002, Brees was named the starter for the 2002 season over Doug Flutie. He started all 16 games for the Chargers. The season started off well for the Chargers with a 6–1 start, but faded down the stretch with a 2–7 record over the last nine games to finish 8–8. He finished the 2002 season with 3,284 passing yards, 17 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions.

In Week 4 of the 2003 season, Brees recorded a 21-yard touchdown reception on a pass thrown by LaDainian Tomlinson in the 34–31 overtime loss to the Oakland Raiders. After a disappointing 1–7 start to the 2003 season, Brees was replaced by Flutie, though he regained the job by Week 15. In 11 games, he finished with 2,108 passing yards, 11 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions.

Drew Brees's Legacy and Impact

2004 season

Brees's career with the Chargers was in jeopardy after San Diego acquired NC State's Philip Rivers after the 2004 NFL draft. With a looming quarterback controversy, he performed well through training camp and the preseason, while Rivers held out during training camp, essentially guaranteeing Brees the job to begin the season with Rivers as his backup.

Brees remained the starter throughout the 2004 season, where he started 15 games and led the team to a 12–4 regular season record. In Week 8, against the Oakland Raiders, he was 22 of 25 for 281 yards and five touchdowns in the 42–14 victory to earn his first AFC Offensive Player of the Week honor. Brees posted spectacular numbers, completing 65.5% of his passes for 3,159 yards, with 27 touchdowns to only seven interceptions, giving him a 104.8 passer rating. The Chargers won the AFC West for the first time in ten seasons and Brees was selected to the 2004 Pro Bowl. He was named 2004 NFL Comeback Player of the Year. In the Wild Card Round against the New York Jets, Brees had 319 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, and one interception in the 20–17 overtime loss.

2005 season

Brees became a free agent after the 2004 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 to sign with another team, but the Chargers would receive two future first-round draft choices in return. He was not traded and continued as the starting quarterback for the remainder of the 2005 season.

After a 1–2 start, Brees helped lead a 41–17 victory over the New England Patriots. He was 19 of 24 for 248 passing yards and two touchdowns and earned AFC Offensive Player of the Week for the effort. 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 partial rotator cuff damage...

Drew Brees's career continues to be documented by reputable media; the facts above are drawn from Wikipedia's biography and public records.

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